Properties

Sample

def _set_name(self, value):
    self._name = value

def _get_name(self):
    return self._name

name = property(fget=_get_name, fset=_set_name)

See sample/python/sample-class-with-property.py

Note:

You can have read only properties.
Properties will only work with new style classes.
You can create a delete method for a property (fdel).
You can set the description for a property using the doc parameter.

@property decorator

(From @property decorator), One nice thing is that you can define your classes with attributes, and then later change them into methods without having to rewrite the rest of your code.

For example, you might have a class Item that represents an item you have for sale. It could have a cost attribute:

class Item:
    def __init__(cost):
        self.cost = cost

item = Item(5)
print item.cost

Later you could decide that the cost may need to include freight. You can define cost as a @property, and you will still be able to call it as normal:

class Item:
    def __init__(cost, freight=0):
        self._cost = cost
        self.freight = freight

    @property
    def cost(self):
        returns self._cost + self.freight

item = Item(5)
print item.cost # No need to change to item.cost()