Understanding Decorators in Python
Decorators are a design pattern that allows you to modify or extend the behavior of an object without changing the object's original implementation. In other words, decorators allow you to add new functionality to an existing object without modifying its core code.
A decorator is typically a function that takes an object as an argument and returns a new object that "wraps" the original object. The new object has the same methods and attributes as the original object, but it also has some additional functionality or behavior that is provided by the decorator.
For example, let's say you have a class called `Car` that has a method called `drive()` that makes the car move. You could create a decorator called `SpeedLimitDecorator` that modifies the `drive()` method to limit the speed of the car. The `SpeedLimitDecorator` would take the original `Car` object as an argument and return a new `Car` object that has the same methods and attributes as the original `Car`, but with the added functionality of limiting the speed.
Here is an example of how you might use a decorator in Python:
```
class Car:
def drive(self):
print("The car is driving")
class SpeedLimitDecorator:
def __init__(self, car):
self.car = car
def drive(self):
self.car.drive()
print("The car is now limited to 50 mph")
car = Car()
speed_limited_car = SpeedLimitDecorator(car)
speed_limited_car.drive() # prints "The car is driving" and "The car is now limited to 50 mph"
```
In this example, the `SpeedLimitDecorator` class takes a `Car` object as an argument in its constructor, and then modifies the `drive()` method of the original `Car` object to limit its speed. The `SpeedLimitDecorator` class also has its own `drive()` method that calls the original `drive()` method of the wrapped object, but with the added limitation of 50 mph.
Decorators are a powerful tool for modifying or extending existing objects without changing their original implementation. They can be used to add new functionality, modify behavior, or even replace parts of an object's implementation without affecting the rest of the code.
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