Python 2.7 Combine abc.abstractmethod and classmethod

Question

How do I create a decorator for an abstract class method in Python 2.7?

Yes, this is similar to this question, except I would like to combine abc.abstractmet

Answer 1

You could upgrade to Python 3.

Starting with Python 3.3, it is possible to combine @classmethod and @abstractmethod:

import abc
class Foo(abc.ABC):
    @classmethod
    @abc.abstractmethod
    def my_abstract_classmethod(...):
        pass

Thanks to @gerrit for pointing this out to me.

Answer 2

Here's a working example derived from the source code in Python 3.3's abc module:

from abc import ABCMeta

class abstractclassmethod(classmethod):

    __isabstractmethod__ = True

    def __init__(self, callable):
        callable.__isabstractmethod__ = True
        super(abstractclassmethod, self).__init__(callable)

class DemoABC:

    __metaclass__ = ABCMeta

    @abstractclassmethod
    def from_int(cls, n):
        return cls()

class DemoConcrete(DemoABC):

    @classmethod
    def from_int(cls, n):
        return cls(2*n)

    def __init__(self, n):
        print 'Initializing with', n

Here's what it looks like when running:

>>> d = DemoConcrete(5)             # Succeeds by calling a concrete __init__()
Initializing with 5

>>> d = DemoConcrete.from_int(5)    # Succeeds by calling a concrete from_int()
Initializing with 10

>>> DemoABC()                       # Fails because from_int() is abstract    
Traceback (most recent call last):
  ...
TypeError: Can't instantiate abstract class DemoABC with abstract methods from_int

>>> DemoABC.from_int(5)             # Fails because from_int() is not implemented
Traceback (most recent call last):
  ...
TypeError: Can't instantiate abstract class DemoABC with abstract methods from_int

Note that the final example fails because cls() won't instantiate. ABCMeta prevents premature instantiation of classes that haven't defined all of the required abstract methods.

Another way to trigger a failure when the from_int() abstract class method is called is to have it raise an exception:

class DemoABC:

    __metaclass__ = ABCMeta

    @abstractclassmethod
    def from_int(cls, n):
        raise NotImplementedError

The design ABCMeta makes no effort to prevent any abstract method from being called on an uninstantiated class, so it is up to you to trigger a failure by invoking cls() as classmethods usually do or by raising a NotImplementedError. Either way, you get a nice, clean failure.

It is probably tempting to write a descriptor to intercept a direct call to an abstract class method, but that would be at odds with the overall design of ABCMeta (which is all about checking for required methods prior to instantiation rather than when methods are called).

Answer 3

Another possible workaround:

class A:
    __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta

    @abc.abstractmethod
    def some_classmethod(cls):
        """IMPORTANT: this is class method, override it with @classmethod!"""
        pass

class B(A):
    @classmethod
    def some_classmethod(cls):
        print cls

Now, one still can't instantiate from A until 'some_classmethod' is implemented, and it works if you implement it with a classmethod.

Answer 4

I recently encountered the same problem. That is, I needed abstract classmethods but was unable to use Python 3 because of other project constraints. The solution I came up with is the following.

abcExtend.py:

import abc

class instancemethodwrapper(object):
    def __init__(self, callable):
        self.callable = callable
        self.__dontcall__ = False

    def __getattr__(self, key):
        return getattr(self.callable, key)

    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        if self.__dontcall__:
            raise TypeError('Attempted to call abstract method.')
        return self.callable(*args,**kwargs)

class newclassmethod(classmethod):
    def __init__(self, func):
        super(newclassmethod, self).__init__(func)
        isabstractmethod = getattr(func,'__isabstractmethod__',False)
        if isabstractmethod:
            self.__isabstractmethod__ = isabstractmethod

    def __get__(self, instance, owner):
        result = instancemethodwrapper(super(newclassmethod, self).__get__(instance, owner))
        isabstractmethod = getattr(self,'__isabstractmethod__',False)
        if isabstractmethod:
            result.__isabstractmethod__ = isabstractmethod
            abstractmethods = getattr(owner,'__abstractmethods__',None)
            if abstractmethods and result.__name__ in abstractmethods:
                result.__dontcall__ = True
        return result

class abstractclassmethod(newclassmethod):
    def __init__(self, func):
        func = abc.abstractmethod(func)
        super(abstractclassmethod,self).__init__(func)

Usage:

from abcExtend import abstractclassmethod

class A(object):
    __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta    
    @abstractclassmethod
    def foo(cls):
        return 6

class B(A):
    pass

class C(B):
    @classmethod
    def foo(cls):
        return super(C,cls).foo() + 1

try:
    a = A()
except TypeError:
    print 'Instantiating A raises a TypeError.'

try:
    A.foo()
except TypeError:
    print 'Calling A.foo raises a TypeError.'

try:
    b = B()
except TypeError:
    print 'Instantiating B also raises a TypeError because foo was not overridden.'

try:
    B.foo()
except TypeError:
    print 'As does calling B.foo.'

#But C can be instantiated because C overrides foo
c = C()

#And C.foo can be called
print C.foo()

And here are some pyunit tests which give a more exhaustive demonstration.

testAbcExtend.py:

import unittest
import abc
oldclassmethod = classmethod
from abcExtend import newclassmethod as classmethod, abstractclassmethod

class Test(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        pass

    def tearDown(self):
        pass

    def testClassmethod(self):
        class A(object):
            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta            
            @classmethod
            @abc.abstractmethod
            def foo(cls):
                return 6

        class B(A):
            @classmethod
            def bar(cls):
                return 5

        class C(B):
            @classmethod
            def foo(cls):
                return super(C,cls).foo() + 1

        self.assertRaises(TypeError,A.foo)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError,A)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError,B)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError,B.foo)
        self.assertEqual(B.bar(),5)
        self.assertEqual(C.bar(),5)
        self.assertEqual(C.foo(),7)

    def testAbstractclassmethod(self):
        class A(object):
            __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta    
            @abstractclassmethod
            def foo(cls):
                return 6

        class B(A):
            pass

        class C(B):
            @oldclassmethod
            def foo(cls):
                return super(C,cls).foo() + 1

        self.assertRaises(TypeError,A.foo)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError,A)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError,B)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError,B.foo)
        self.assertEqual(C.foo(),7)
        c = C()
        self.assertEqual(c.foo(),7)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    #import sys;sys.argv = ['', 'Test.testName']
    unittest.main()

I haven't evaluated the performance cost of this solution, but it has worked for my purposes so far.