Python classes are 'a means of bundling data and functionality together.'Classes in The Python TutorialData classes are a recent addition to PythonData classes first appeared in Python 3.7, released in June 2018. that place a heavier emphasis on the data than the functionality aspect. This invites a pleasant comparison with Haskell datatypes, which exhibit a more distinct separation between data and functionality.
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- In this particular example, the slot class is about 35% faster. Data classes are one of new features of Python 3.7. With data classes, you do not have to write boilerplate code to get proper initialization, representation, and comparisons for your objects. You have seen how to define your own data classes, as well as.
The following example defines a type representing a point in three dimensions as the conjunction of three integers:
This is true in the language spec for Python 3.7 and greater. Since this is a backport to Python 3.6, it raises an interesting question: does that guarantee apply to 3.6? For CPython 3.6 it does. As of the time of this writing, it's also true for all other Python implementations that claim to be 3.6 compatible, of which there are none.
This class looks and behaves quite similarly to the following Haskell datatype defined using record syntax:
Data classes can also have all the complexities of regular Python classes, and the dataclass
decorator is a good deal more feature-packed than we discuss here. We will focus on the primary purpose of data classes: the field list and the special methods that are generated based on the field list.
Init
__init__
__init__
is a special methodSpecial methods are sometimes called 'dunder' methods (for the double underscores in their names). that initializes the instance; it is called when a value is first constructed. In the example above, the dataclass
decorator in the example above generates the following method for the Point
class:
The effect is roughly akin to what the constructor of a Haskell record does. Here's how we create a new Point
value, in Python and in Haskell:
Types vs constructors
In both languages, one may find it slightly unsettling that the word 'Point' describes two things:
- The type;
- A function that returns a value of that type.
How can 'Point' be overloaded to mean both of those things? The answer varies between the two languages. The Python and Haskell REPL sessions above look more or less identical, but if you're interested in the subtle distinctions about what's going on 'under the hood', as they say, read on.
The Python expression Point
, by itself, refers to the class. We can see this by typing Point
into the REPL:
The reason we can write the expression Point(3,4,5)
is that Python classes are callable; this means they have the special method __call__
.__call__
The Python documentation describes how the expression desugars:
if this method is defined, x(arg1, arg2, ..)
is a shorthand for x.__call__(arg1, arg2, ..)
.
We can verify in the REPL that this method is in fact defined on Point
:
And we can also evaluate the desugared form and see that it does produce the same result.
In Haskell, the distinction between Point
the type and Point
the function is made by context. We will use the following function definition to illustrate.This function accepts one Point
argument, and returns a new Point
where the x
coordinate is reduced by one. Interpreted according to the convention that the axis labeled X in three-dimensional space is oriented with lesser numbers to the left and greater numbers to the right, this function's output is one unit to the left of its input, and so we have chosen to name it moveLeft
.
'Point' appears multiple times here: In a type context, in a pattern context, and in an expression context.
- What comes after two colons (
::
) is a type. - What comes before the equal symbol (
=
) is a pattern. As a pattern, a constructor splits up a value into its consituent parts. - What comes after the equal symbol (
=
) is an expression. As an expression, a constructor builds a value from its constituent parts.
From the contexts in which they appear, then, we can tell:
- 'Point' refers to the
Point
type - 'Point' is a function that constructs a value of the
Point
type.
Deriving
The other special methods that data classes generate automatically correspond to Haskell typeclass deriving. Emerald queen casino donation request.
__repr__
– equivalent to derivingShow
__eq__
– equivalent to derivingEq
.__lt__
,__le__
,__gt__
, and__ge__
If thedataclass
function is called withorder=True
. – equivalent to derivingOrd
.__hash__
If thedataclass
function is called withfrozen=True
. – equivalent to derivingHashable
, which we discuss below.
Replacing field values
The replace
functiondataclasses.replace
lets you construct a new instance based on an existing one, with one or more field values modified.
Somewhat uncharacteristically, this is not accomplished with a function in Haskell, but instead is a feature of the built-in record syntax.
Hashing
Hashing is important in Python because it is the basis of the set
and dict
structures. For some variety we'll switch up the example; this time we'll define a data class called Color
:
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Suppose we want to make a set
of the primary colors.
Color
s can't go into a set unless they're hashable. We can get that by requesting a frozen data class, which entreats Python to generate an implementation of the __hash__
function.
Python Data Class Slots Games
Now we have a hash function for Color
:
And thus now we can put Color
s into a set.
Haskell doesn't have hashing as a built-in concept. Instead of hash-based collections, we more often use the Ord
-based collectionsSee the containers package on Hackage. found in the containers
library.
But we do have hash-based collectionsHashSet
is defined in the unordered-collections
package. in Haskell as well. If we want to store a collection of colors in a HashSet
, then the Color
type must have an instance of the Hashable
typeclass. We will need to turn to the hashable
librarySee the hashable package on Hackage. and a few language extensions.For more about what's going on here, see our page on deriving strategies.
Default values
Python's data classes can have default values for its fields, just like Python functions can have defaults for their parameters. Haskell does not have a concept of parameter defaults, so this is something we have to reckon with.
Let's look at the first example from PEP 557:PEP 557
The default value of 0
for quantity_on_hand
in the Python data class allows us to construct an InventoryItem
with only two parameters instead of three:
Our corresponding Haskell type declaration has no ability to specify default values for its fields.Note that this example uses floating-point numbers to represent money, which is not generally a good idea due to the possibility of rounding error. Consider using the safe-money package if you deal with money.
As an analogue in Haskell, we might write a function with two parameters.
Or more tersely using record wildcards:
Now we can use the inventoryItem
function like we used the Python InventoryItem
constructor:
Instance methods
- The type;
- A function that returns a value of that type.
How can 'Point' be overloaded to mean both of those things? The answer varies between the two languages. The Python and Haskell REPL sessions above look more or less identical, but if you're interested in the subtle distinctions about what's going on 'under the hood', as they say, read on.
The Python expression Point
, by itself, refers to the class. We can see this by typing Point
into the REPL:
The reason we can write the expression Point(3,4,5)
is that Python classes are callable; this means they have the special method __call__
.__call__
The Python documentation describes how the expression desugars:
if this method is defined, x(arg1, arg2, ..)
is a shorthand for x.__call__(arg1, arg2, ..)
.
We can verify in the REPL that this method is in fact defined on Point
:
And we can also evaluate the desugared form and see that it does produce the same result.
In Haskell, the distinction between Point
the type and Point
the function is made by context. We will use the following function definition to illustrate.This function accepts one Point
argument, and returns a new Point
where the x
coordinate is reduced by one. Interpreted according to the convention that the axis labeled X in three-dimensional space is oriented with lesser numbers to the left and greater numbers to the right, this function's output is one unit to the left of its input, and so we have chosen to name it moveLeft
.
'Point' appears multiple times here: In a type context, in a pattern context, and in an expression context.
- What comes after two colons (
::
) is a type. - What comes before the equal symbol (
=
) is a pattern. As a pattern, a constructor splits up a value into its consituent parts. - What comes after the equal symbol (
=
) is an expression. As an expression, a constructor builds a value from its constituent parts.
From the contexts in which they appear, then, we can tell:
- 'Point' refers to the
Point
type - 'Point' is a function that constructs a value of the
Point
type.
Deriving
The other special methods that data classes generate automatically correspond to Haskell typeclass deriving. Emerald queen casino donation request.
__repr__
– equivalent to derivingShow
__eq__
– equivalent to derivingEq
.__lt__
,__le__
,__gt__
, and__ge__
If thedataclass
function is called withorder=True
. – equivalent to derivingOrd
.__hash__
If thedataclass
function is called withfrozen=True
. – equivalent to derivingHashable
, which we discuss below.
Replacing field values
The replace
functiondataclasses.replace
lets you construct a new instance based on an existing one, with one or more field values modified.
Somewhat uncharacteristically, this is not accomplished with a function in Haskell, but instead is a feature of the built-in record syntax.
Hashing
Hashing is important in Python because it is the basis of the set
and dict
structures. For some variety we'll switch up the example; this time we'll define a data class called Color
:
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Suppose we want to make a set
of the primary colors.
Color
s can't go into a set unless they're hashable. We can get that by requesting a frozen data class, which entreats Python to generate an implementation of the __hash__
function.
Python Data Class Slots Games
Now we have a hash function for Color
:
And thus now we can put Color
s into a set.
Haskell doesn't have hashing as a built-in concept. Instead of hash-based collections, we more often use the Ord
-based collectionsSee the containers package on Hackage. found in the containers
library.
But we do have hash-based collectionsHashSet
is defined in the unordered-collections
package. in Haskell as well. If we want to store a collection of colors in a HashSet
, then the Color
type must have an instance of the Hashable
typeclass. We will need to turn to the hashable
librarySee the hashable package on Hackage. and a few language extensions.For more about what's going on here, see our page on deriving strategies.
Default values
Python's data classes can have default values for its fields, just like Python functions can have defaults for their parameters. Haskell does not have a concept of parameter defaults, so this is something we have to reckon with.
Let's look at the first example from PEP 557:PEP 557
The default value of 0
for quantity_on_hand
in the Python data class allows us to construct an InventoryItem
with only two parameters instead of three:
Our corresponding Haskell type declaration has no ability to specify default values for its fields.Note that this example uses floating-point numbers to represent money, which is not generally a good idea due to the possibility of rounding error. Consider using the safe-money package if you deal with money.
As an analogue in Haskell, we might write a function with two parameters.
Or more tersely using record wildcards:
Now we can use the inventoryItem
function like we used the Python InventoryItem
constructor:
Instance methods
Python Class Data Member
There is one more piece of the example from PEP 557 that we haven't mentioned yet: the total_cost
method on the InventoryItem
class.
We do not typically attach functions to data in this way in Haskell. The total_cost
function becomes a top-level function in the Haskell version.We use the fromIntegral
function to convert from Integer
to Double
(or, more generally, from any integer-like type to any other type of number).
Alternatively, using the RecordWildCards
extension:
Python Class Data Type
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