How do I create a constant in Python?

Question

Is there a way to declare a constant in Python? In Java we can create constant values in this manner:

public static          


        

Answer 1

Here is an implementation of a "Constants" class, which creates instances with read-only (constant) attributes. E.g. can use Nums.PI to get a value that has been initialized as 3.14159, and Nums.PI = 22 raises an exception.

# ---------- Constants.py ----------
class Constants(object):
    """
    Create objects with read-only (constant) attributes.
    Example:
        Nums = Constants(ONE=1, PI=3.14159, DefaultWidth=100.0)
        print 10 + Nums.PI
        print '----- Following line is deliberate ValueError -----'
        Nums.PI = 22
    """

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        self._d = dict(*args, **kwargs)

    def __iter__(self):
        return iter(self._d)

    def __len__(self):
        return len(self._d)

    # NOTE: This is only called if self lacks the attribute.
    # So it does not interfere with get of 'self._d', etc.
    def __getattr__(self, name):
        return self._d[name]

    # ASSUMES '_..' attribute is OK to set. Need this to initialize 'self._d', etc.
    #If use as keys, they won't be constant.
    def __setattr__(self, name, value):
        if (name[0] == '_'):
            super(Constants, self).__setattr__(name, value)
        else:
            raise ValueError("setattr while locked", self)

if (__name__ == "__main__"):
    # Usage example.
    Nums = Constants(ONE=1, PI=3.14159, DefaultWidth=100.0)
    print 10 + Nums.PI
    print '----- Following line is deliberate ValueError -----'
    Nums.PI = 22

Thanks to @MikeGraham 's FrozenDict, which I used as a starting point. Changed, so instead of Nums['ONE'] the usage syntax is Nums.ONE.

And thanks to @Raufio's answer, for idea to override __ setattr __.

Or for an implementation with more functionality, see @Hans_meine 's named_constants at GitHub