Python Programming

Now we are ready to talk about Python decorators.

Take a look at the example below. Can you understand what it is doing?

Test it out yourself to see whether your guess is correct!

def christmas_decorator(func):
    def wrapper():
        print("wrapping")
        func()
        print("with a Christmas-y wrapper")
    return wrapper

def gift():
    print("a toy")

print("Before decorating:")
gift()
print(gift)
## <function gift at 0x7f12ffd0c1f0>

print("After decorating:")
gift = christmas_decorator(gift)
gift()
print(gift)
## <function christmas_decorator.<locals>.wrapper at 0x7f12ffd0c280>

So the above is an example of a Python decorator.

• A Python decorator is a function.
• It takes another function as input.
• It wraps this function and adds more functionality to the function (yes, try saying three functions in one sentence!)
• It returns the function, and reassigns it to the original function