Python descriptors are a fairly powerful mechanic, especially for creating properties. The built-in property
descriptor/decorator works very well for defining properties, but they have a small weakness in my eyes: it doesn’t have defaults for simple usage. Yes, not supplying the property class with all methods does have the decent default of not allowing that usage, but I mean that it doesn’t automatically implement some form of backing field. Backing fields are done completely explicitly by you.
This is not a problem in some cases. In fact, it makes the property class exceptionally versatile, but at the cost of my explicitness on the part of the user. It has its uses, and it’s great at them. But I have need for something a little less versatile, more specialized, and more implicit.
I strongly try to make as many of my classes immutable as possible, avoiding side effects. Because of this, I want my class attributes to be read-only. There are two existing ways to deal with this. The first is to simply document that I want the attributes to be left alone. This is valid, and has a sort of simplicity to it, but sometimes I like to back up those intents with something a little more restrictive. The second option is to use a property
without defining a setter. This is actually a very good option, but as I said while leading up to this, it’s highly explicit. I want a property that is designed for the express purpose of being read-only. Continue Reading