What are some practical use cases for closures and decorators in Python?

What are some practical use cases for closures and decorators in Python?

Closures can be used for data hiding and maintaining state, while decorators are great for modifying functions or methods.

Can you give me an example of a closure?

Sure! A closure can be created when a nested function captures the variable from its enclosing scope. For example:

def outer_function(msg):
    def inner_function():
        print(msg)
    return inner_function

my_greeting = outer_function('Hello, World!')
my_greeting()  # Outputs: Hello, World!

What about decorators? How do they work?

Decorators are functions that modify the behavior of another function. They are often used for logging, access control, or caching. Here's a simple example:

def my_decorator(func):
    def wrapper():
        print('Something is happening before the function is called.')
        func()
        print('Something is happening after the function is called.')
    return wrapper

@my_decorator
def say_hello():
    print('Hello!')

say_hello()

Can closures and decorators be used together?

Absolutely! You can use decorators to create closures that maintain state or configuration. This is a common pattern in Python.