Can you explain decorator patterns in detail?

Can you explain decorator patterns in detail?

Sure! The decorator pattern is a structural design pattern that allows behavior to be added to individual objects, either statically or dynamically, without affecting the behavior of other objects from the same class.

How does it differ from inheritance?

Great question! Inheritance creates a new class that extends the functionality of an existing class, while the decorator pattern allows you to add functionality to an object at runtime without modifying its structure.

Can you give me a coding example?

Absolutely! In Python, you can use decorators to modify the behavior of functions. For instance, you can create a decorator that logs the execution time of a function.

What are the advantages of using the decorator pattern?

The main advantages include increased flexibility, the ability to add responsibilities dynamically, and avoiding class explosion that can occur with multiple subclasses.