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17.8: Type-based dispatch

  • Page ID
    42456
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    In the previous section we added two Time objects, but you also might want to add an integer to a Time object. The following is a version of __add__ that checks the type of other and invokes either add_time or increment:

    # inside class Time:
    
        def __add__(self, other):
            if isinstance(other, Time):
                return self.add_time(other)
            else:
                return self.increment(other)
    
        def add_time(self, other):
            seconds = self.time_to_int() + other.time_to_int()
            return int_to_time(seconds)
    
        def increment(self, seconds):
            seconds += self.time_to_int()
            return int_to_time(seconds)
    

    The built-in function isinstance takes a value and a class object, and returns True if the value is an instance of the class.

    If other is a Time object, __add__ invokes add_time. Otherwise it assumes that the parameter is a number and invokes increment. This operation is called a type-based dispatch because it dispatches the computation to different methods based on the type of the arguments.

    Here are examples that use the + operator with different types:

    >>> start = Time(9, 45)
    >>> duration = Time(1, 35)
    >>> print(start + duration)
    11:20:00
    >>> print(start + 1337)
    10:07:17
    

    Unfortunately, this implementation of addition is not commutative. If the integer is the first operand, you get

    >>> print(1337 + start)
    TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'instance'
    

    The problem is, instead of asking the Time object to add an integer, Python is asking an integer to add a Time object, and it doesn’t know how. But there is a clever solution for this problem: the special method __radd__, which stands for “right-side add”. This method is invoked when a Time object appears on the right side of the + operator. Here’s the definition:

    # inside class Time:
    
        def __radd__(self, other):
            return self.__add__(other)
    

    And here’s how it’s used:

    >>> print(1337 + start)
    10:07:17
    

    As an exercise, write an add method for Points that works with either a Point object or a tuple:

    • If the second operand is a Point, the method should return a new Point whose x coordinate is the sum of the x coordinates of the operands, and likewise for the y coordinates.
    • If the second operand is a tuple, the method should add the first element of the tuple to the x coordinate and the second element to the y coordinate, and return a new Point with the result.

    This page titled 17.8: Type-based dispatch is shared under a CC BY-NC 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Allen B. Downey (Green Tea Press) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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