Is there a Python equivalent to the VB.NET 'With' Statement?

Question

I always liked how VB.NET allows you to take a series of statements with long variable names and make them more readable using the 'With' Statement (you can see an example in "The VB.NET 'With' Statement - embrace or avoid?"). It can really make the code much more readable.

So is there is an equivalent keyword or construct to do the same thing in Python?

Perhaps you can give a real python example so we can better understand. You can certainly shorten imported names in the actually import statement, for example. — President James K. Polk, Jul 26 '19 at 19:36
@MichaelKolber - You're right, it is a duplicate. Thing is, I did a search before I posted, but that post didn't show up in any of the results. — Big_Al_Tx, Jul 26 '19 at 20:00
@Big_Al_Tx No worries, that's what the community is here for :) — Michael Kolber, Jul 26 '19 at 20:03

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 26 '19 at 19:30

2

No, but you could do something like this:

obj.__dict__.update({
    'a': 1,
    'b': 2,
    'c': 3,
})

However, working with __dict__ directly is not advised.

answered Jul 26 '19 at 19:30

Ben

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Could you please explain what's going on here? I don't understand what this is achieving. – Michael Kolber Jul 26 '19 at 19:36
So, why did you advise it then? – Klaus D. Jul 26 '19 at 19:37
What, exactly, is this *shorter* than? – President James K. Polk Jul 26 '19 at 19:37
Standard Python objects store instance attributes in an `__dict__` attribute, but this by no means universally true and I would not recommend doing it. – Ben Jul 26 '19 at 19:38

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 26 '19 at 19:40

Long accessor chains are a code smell. If you find that you're manipulating several attributes of an object gotten via an accessor chain it's time to write a method for it. It's also bad style to grab and manipulate "private parts" of objects without their consent...

Your question might better be phrased as "What is a proper pythonic way to set several attributes of a contained object?" together with an actual real-life example which allows answers to be specific.

Is there a Python equivalent to the VB.NET 'With' Statement?

2 Answers2