Mastering Polymorphism with Decorators in Python

A Practical Guide to Enhancing Code Flexibility and Reusability

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Polymorphism is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. In Python, polymorphism can be achieved through various mechanisms, including method overriding, duck typing, and decorators.

In this article, we’ll explore how decorators can be used to implement polymorphism in Python, enabling code flexibility and reusability.

Understanding Decorators

Before diving into polymorphism with decorators, let’s briefly review what decorators are in Python. A decorator is a function that takes another function as input, adds some functionality to it, and returns a new function with the added functionality.

Decorators are typically used to modify the behavior of a function without changing its source code. Here’s a simple example of a decorator that logs the arguments passed to a function:

def log_args(func):
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        print(f"Calling {func.__name__} with args={args} and kwargs={kwargs}")
        return func(*args, **kwargs)
    return wrapper

@log_args
def add_numbers(a, b):
    return a + b…