Custom placeholder like None in python

Question

I\'m using argspec in a function that takes another function or method as the argument, and returns a tuple like this:

((\"arg1\", obj1), (\"arg2\", obj2), .         


        

Answer 1

There isn't any reason to not use such sentinel objects for such purposes. As an alternative to a class object, you could also create a singleton instance of a dynamically created type:

NoDefault = type('NoDefault', (object,), {
    '__str__': lambda s: 'NoDefault', '__repr__': lambda s: 'NoDefault'})()

Answer 2

My favourite sentinel is Ellipsis, and if I may quote myself:

it's there, it's an object, it's a singleton, and its name means "lack of", and it's not the overused None (which could be put in a queue as part of normal data flow). YMMV.

Answer 3

I had a similar situation some time ago. Here's what I came up with.

# Works like None, but is also a no-op callable and empty iterable.
class NULLType(type):
    def __new__(cls, name, bases, dct):
        return type.__new__(cls, name, bases, dct)
    def __init__(cls, name, bases, dct):
        super(NULLType, cls).__init__(name, bases, dct)
    def __str__(self):
        return ""
    def __repr__(self):
        return "NULL"
    def __nonzero__(self):
        return False
    def __len__(self):
        return 0
    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        return None
    def __contains__(self, item):
        return False
    def __iter__(self):
        return self
    def next(*args):
        raise StopIteration
NULL = NULLType("NULL", (type,), {})

It can also act as a null callable and sequence.