Translating some Java to Python

[Herman Slagman]

"Gabriel Genellina" <gagsl-py2 at yahoo.com.ar> schreef in bericht 
news:mailman.7960.1179746966.32031.python-list at python.org...
> En Mon, 21 May 2007 07:39:09 -0300, Unknown <unknown at unknown.invalid> 
> escribió:
>
>> "Ant" <antroy at gmail.com> schreef in bericht
>> news:1179738814.282655.192700 at r3g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>> Herman has shown you *how* to do static methods in Python, but
>>> typically they are not used. Since Python has first class functions,
>>> and they can be defined at the module level, there is no need to use
>>> static methods.
>>
>> As an experienced developer I'm rather new to Python, so please forgive 
>> me any non-Pythonic babbling.
>>> From a language point you're probably right, but from a design point I'd
>> like to have methods that are clearly associated with a class as methods 
>> of that class, even if they don't use any class or instance related data.
>
> In that case you might want to revise the design, perhaps you carry some 
> preconceptions about how things should be, that are not directly 
> applicable here. (I'm not saying this is related to your specific problem 
> because I don't know exactly what you want, but in general, a lot of 
> design patterns *implementations* are not directly applicable to Python).

I don't really have problems with Python (yet), merely responding to the OPs 
question.

One example that comes to mind is a class that is a proxy for a database 
class, say Person.
The Person.Load(id) method doesn't use any instance or class data, it 
instantiates a Person and populates it from the database.
It is clearly a part of the class's interface so for that I use a 
@staticmethod.

> Modules are objects too - they're a good example of singletons. If you 
> want to create a class containing only static methods: use a module 
> instead. If you want to create a class having a single instance (a 
> singleton), most of the time you can use a module instead.
> Functions don't *have* to be methods in a class, and the resulting design 
> may still be a good design from an OO point of view.

*That* Pythonic I'm already ;-)
For a utility 'class' I'm using a module, no need for a class there.
Using a module for a Singleton is good tip though.

Herman