Can one make Python constructors more concise?

Question

My python code has a class from which instantiates objects representing countries. The class has a constructor.

class Country:
    def __init__(self, population, literacy, firms, area, populationDensity):
        self.population = population
        self.literacy = literacy
        self.firms = firms
        self.area = area
        self.populationDensity = populationDensity

Is there a way to make this code more concise? Here is the pseudocode for what I am seeking.

class Country:
    def __init__(self, population, literacy, firms, area, populationDensity):
        # assign object these properties in one line

Thank you.

A one-line solution only saves you four lines, but will probably make it harder to understand as well. — Hunter McMillen, Feb 26 '12 at 01:20
See [this question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1389180/python-automatically-initialize-instance-variables) for several approaches, but I don't really recommend going down this road. If you have so many initializing arguments that you think it's not concise enough you probably have too many. — DSM, Feb 26 '12 at 01:21

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 26 '12 at 01:18

3

You can do this in one line, but it will only make the code more difficult to read and follow. Here is how you would do it.

class Country:
    def __init__(self, population, literacy, firms, area, populationDensity):
        (self.population, self.literacy, self.firms, self.area, self.populationDensity) = (population, literacy, firms, area, populationDensity)

answered Feb 26 '12 at 01:18

jordanm

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2

You can drop the parentheses around the two sides of the assignment. – Chris Lutz Feb 26 '12 at 01:21
Thanks, that works, but I think I'm still putting the code in multiple lines as you had recommended. – dangerChihuahua007 Feb 27 '12 at 00:36

Can one make Python constructors more concise?

1 Answers1