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up vote 5 down vote favorite

I'm reading the awesome Head First Design Patterns book. As an exercise I converted first example (or rather a subset of it) to Python. The code I got is rather too simple, i.e. there is no abstract nor interface declarations, it's all just 'classes'. Is that the right way to do it in Python? My code is below, original Java code and problem statement can be found at http://books.google.com/books?id=LjJcCnNf92kC&pg=PA18

class QuackBehavior():
    def __init__(self):
        pass
    def quack(self):
        pass

class Quack(QuackBehavior):
    def quack(self):
        print "Quack!"

class QuackNot(QuackBehavior):
    def quack(self):
        print "..."

class Squeack(QuackBehavior):
    def quack(self):
        print "Squeack!"

class FlyBehavior():
    def fly(self):
        pass

class Fly():
    def fly(self):
        print "I'm flying!"

class FlyNot():
    def fly(self):
        print "Can't fly..."

class Duck():
    def display(self):
        print this.name

    def performQuack(self):
        self.quackBehavior.quack()

    def performFly(self):
        self.flyBehavior.fly()

class MallardDuck(Duck):
    def __init__(self):
        self.quackBehavior = Quack()
        self.flyBehavior = Fly()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    mallard = MallardDuck()
    mallard.performQuack()
    mallard.performFly()
    mallard.flyBehavior = FlyNot()
    mallard.performFly()
share|improve this question
    
This looked very familiar - you might want to take a look at my answer to that question. –  Lattyware Feb 24 '13 at 20:04

2 Answers 2

up vote 4 down vote accepted

In Python, you can pass functions as argument. This simplifies the "Strategy" Design pattern, as you don't need to create classes just for one method or behavior. See this question for more info.

def quack():
    print "Quack!"

def quack_not():
    print "..."

def squeack():
    print "Squeack!"

def fly():
    print "I'm flying!"

def fly_not():
    print "Can't fly..."


class Duck:
    def display(self):
        print this.name

    def __init__(self, quack_behavior, fly_behavior):
        self.performQuack = quack_behavior
        self.performFly = fly_behavior

class MallardDuck(Duck):
    def __init__(self):
        Duck.__init__(self, quack, fly)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    duck = Duck(quack_not, fly_not)
    duck.performQuack()
    mallard = MallardDuck()
    mallard.performQuack()
    mallard.performFly()
    mallard.performFly = fly_not
    mallard.performFly()

Output:

...
Quack!
I'm flying!
Can't fly...
share|improve this answer
    
I picked this answer because it actually shows what @WinstonEwert's only proposed. However, this code lets you create a generic Duck, which was not possible in original Java example (that class is abstract). I assumed not having __init__ in Duck() would make it kind-of-abstract in Python... Is that a correct assumption? –  dfo Feb 23 '13 at 15:08
    
Yes, here's some more info on that: fw-geekycoder.blogspot.com/2011/02/… The reason I had the __init__ was for my own reasons of testing the script. –  Atif Feb 25 '13 at 23:27
up vote 7 down vote 
class QuackBehavior():

Don't put () after classes, either skip it, or put object in there

    def __init__(self):
        pass

There's no reason to define a constructor if you aren't going to do anything, so just skip it

    def quack(self):
        pass

You should probably at least raise NotImplementedError(), so that if anyone tries to call this it'll complain. That'll also make it clear what this class is doing.

You don't really need this class at all. The only reason to provide classes like this in python is documentation purposes. Whether or not you think that's useful enough is up to you.

class Quack(QuackBehavior):
    def quack(self):
        print "Quack!"

class QuackNot(QuackBehavior):
    def quack(self):
        print "..."

class Squeack(QuackBehavior):
    def quack(self):
        print "Squeack!"

class FlyBehavior():
    def fly(self):
        pass

class Fly():

If you are going to defined FlyBehavior, you should really inherit from it. It just makes it a litle more clear what you are doing.

    def fly(self):
        print "I'm flying!"

class FlyNot():
    def fly(self):
        print "Can't fly..."

class Duck():

I'd define a constructor taking the quack and fly behavior here.

    def display(self):
        print this.name

    def performQuack(self):
        self.quackBehavior.quack()

    def performFly(self):
        self.flyBehavior.fly()

class MallardDuck(Duck):
    def __init__(self):
        self.quackBehavior = Quack()
        self.flyBehavior = Fly()

There's not really a reason for this to be a class. I'd make a function that sets up the Duck and returns it. 

if __name__ == "__main__":
    mallard = MallardDuck()
    mallard.performQuack()
    mallard.performFly()
    mallard.flyBehavior = FlyNot()
    mallard.performFly()
share|improve this answer
    
Thanks for explaining intricacies, big help. –  dfo Feb 23 '13 at 14:58

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