Python property() built-in function
From the Python 3 documentation
Return a property attribute.
Introduction
The property() function is used to create property attributes. A property attribute is a special kind of attribute that has getter, setter, and delete methods. This allows you to add logic to getting, setting, or deleting an attribute’s value.
It’s more common to use the @property decorator, which is a more convenient way to use property().
Example
Here’s an example of using property() to create a read-only attribute:
class Person:
def __init__(self, name):
self._name = name
def get_name(self):
print("Getting name")
return self._name
# Create a property
name = property(get_name)
p = Person("John")
print(p.name) # This calls get_name()
# Output:
# Getting name
# John
# p.name = "Jane" # This would raise an AttributeError because there is no setter
And here is the more common way to do it with the @property decorator:
class Person:
def __init__(self, name):
self._name = name
@property
def name(self):
print("Getting name")
return self._name
p = Person("John")
print(p.name)
# Output:
# Getting name
# John