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Tomer
Tomer

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Tiny python docstring tip

#python #tips

When defining interfaces in python using the abc.ABC metaclass, sometimes it gets pretty annoying to have so many empty methods, waiting to be filled in.

import abc class Requester(abc.ABC): @abc.abstractmethod def get(self, endpoint:str) -> Response: """Sends a GET request.""" pass @abc.abstractmethod def post(self, endpoint:str, params:dict) -> Response: """Makes a POST request.""" pass
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All these uses of pass always felt pretty ugly to me, and luckily there is a solution!

Because docstrings are simply a string expression in the start of a function - you can just let go of the pass!

import abc class Requester(abc.ABC): @abc.abstractmethod def get(self, url:str, url_params:dict) -> Response: """Sends a GET request.""" @abc.abstractmethod def post(self, url:str, url_params:dict) -> Response: """Makes a POST request."""
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Now isn't that so much nicer?

Top comments (2)

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dperetti profile image
Dominique PERETTI •

I would rather use stubs, as explained here github.com/python/mypy/wiki/Creati...

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tadaboody profile image
Tomer •

Stubs and abstract classes aren't the same thing. Stubs annotate existing classes/interfaces/methods helping mypy make static checks.
while abstract classes declare new constructs, used to later be inherited from and implemented (with only runtime checks)