What is the difference between decorators and middleware in Python?

What is the difference between decorators and middleware in Python?

Decorators are functions that modify the behavior of another function, while middleware is used in web frameworks to process requests.

Can you give me an example of a decorator?

Sure! A simple decorator could be one that logs the execution time of a function. Here's a basic example:

import time

def timer_decorator(func):
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        start_time = time.time()
        result = func(*args, **kwargs)
        end_time = time.time()
        print(f"{func.__name__} executed in {end_time - start_time} seconds")
        return result
    return wrapper

@timer_decorator
def my_function():
    time.sleep(1)

my_function()

What about middleware? Can you show me an example?

Certainly! In a web framework like Flask, middleware can be used to process requests before they reach the view function. Here's an example:

from flask import Flask, request

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.before_request
def before_request():
    print(f"Request URL: {request.url}")

@app.route('/')
def home():
    return 'Hello, World!'

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run()