Python 3 Object-Oriented Programming - Third Edition

Deciding when to use properties

With the built-in property clouding the division between behavior and data, it can be confusing to know when to choose an attribute, or a method, or a property. The use case example we saw earlier is one of the most common uses of properties; we have some data on a class that we later want to add behavior to. There are also other factors to take into account when deciding to use a property.

Technically, in Python, data, properties, and methods are all attributes on a class. The fact that a method is callable does not distinguish it from other types of attributes; indeed, we'll see in Chapter 7, Python Object-Oriented Shortcuts, that it is possible to create normal objects that can be called like functions. ...