Python decorator best practice, using a class vs a function

Question

As I\'ve understood it there are two ways to do a Python decorator, to either use the __call__ of a class or to define and call a function as the decorator. Wha

Answer 1

There are two different decorator implementations. One of these uses a class as a decorator and the other uses a function as a decorator. You must choose the preferred implementation for your needs.

For example, if your decorator does a lot of work then you can use class as a decorator, like this:

import logging
import time
import pymongo
import hashlib
import random

DEBUG_MODE = True

class logger(object):

        def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
                if DEBUG_MODE:
                        return object.__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
                else:
                        return args[0]

        def __init__(self, foo):
                self.foo = foo
                logging.basicConfig(filename='exceptions.log', format='%(levelname)s %   (asctime)s: %(message)s')
                self.log = logging.getLogger(__name__)

        def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
                def _log():
                        try:
                               t = time.time()
                               func_hash = self._make_hash(t)
                               col = self._make_db_connection()
                               log_record = {'func_name':self.foo.__name__, 'start_time':t, 'func_hash':func_hash}
                               col.insert(log_record)
                               res = self.foo(*args, **kwargs)
                               log_record = {'func_name':self.foo.__name__, 'exc_time':round(time.time() - t,4), 'end_time':time.time(),'func_hash':func_hash}
                               col.insert(log_record)
                               return res
                        except Exception as e:
                               self.log.error(e)
                return _log()

        def _make_db_connection(self):
                connection = pymongo.Connection()
                db = connection.logger
                collection = db.log
                return collection

        def _make_hash(self, t):
                m = hashlib.md5()
                m.update(str(t)+str(random.randrange(1,10)))
                return m.hexdigest()