Implementing stateful objects or state machines in Python

This lesson is a recipe from the Python Cookbook that explores the problem of wanting to implement a state machine or an object that operates in a number of different states, without littering your code with a lot of conditionals. It teaches key solutions such as encoding each operational state as a separate class and arranging for one class to delegate to another class, or directly manipulating certain attributes of instances.

What you'll learn—and how you can apply it

Learn how to implement a state machine or an object that operates in a number of different states, but doesn’t litter your code with a lot of conditionals. You'll also learn how to encode each operational state as a separate class and arrange for one class to delegate to the other class. Finally, see how to directly manipulate the class attribute of instances.

This lesson is for you because…

You're an experienced Python programmers who is looking to deepen your understanding of the language and modern programming idioms, such as the advanced techniques used by libraries, frameworks, and applications.

Prerequisites

• Moderate experience as a Python programmer

Materials or downloads needed

• none