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POAdding convenience static / class methods without removing or breaking existing implementation
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  1. POAdding convenience static / class methods without removing or breaking existing implementation
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    copied!<p>I am getting the hang of the OOP paradigm, and the art of making expandable and reusable code is something I want to improve at. Let's say in theory that I have a Python library of utility classes that has been widely used. I want to add some convenience static methods with the same code to a particular class for ease of use, but I don't want to break my existing use of the library. What is the recommended way to implement and name the new class methods? I have a couple of guesses as follows:</p> <p>1) With an overloaded method name to maintain clarity? Python's not really a good example, but in other languages such as Java? For example:</p> <pre><code>class Cat(object): def __init__(self, name): self.name = name def meow(self): meow(self.name) @staticmethod def meow(name): # &lt;-- Granted, Python doesn't overload method names print "{} meowed cutely!".format(name) </code></pre> <p>2) With a different, perhaps less semantic static method name? The old name cannot be changed, so... This seems to me this could get out of hand for huge projects, with a bunch of non semantic names for just a static version of the same method. Example:</p> <pre><code>class Cat(object): def __init__(self, name): self.name = name def meow(self): meowFrom(self.name) @staticmethod def meowFrom(name): # Different, possibly less semantic name print "{} meowed cutely!".format(name) </code></pre> <p>I assume duplicating the code outright is a bad idea. Which is the way to go? Or is there some better design pattern? Something specific for Python I am unaware of? I want to make sure my code isn't worthless in the future; and make some personal libraries that are expansive for future projects.</p>
 

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