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pythonclassstaticparameter-passingstatic-methods

How to use a class variable as a default argument value in Python


I want to use a class variable as a default argument value in a static method. But when I reference the class, I get an error NameError: name 'MyClass' is not defined

class MyClass:

    x = 100
    y = 200

    @staticmethod
    def foo(x = MyClass.x, y = MyClass.y):
        return x*y

Solution

  • MyClass is not defined yet when Python wants to bind the default arguments, but x and y are already defined in the classes' scope.

    In other words, you can write:

    class MyClass:
        x = 100
        y = 200
    
        @staticmethod
        def foo(x=x, y=y):
            return x*y
    

    Note that foo will not recognize reassignments to MyCLass.x and MyClass.y because the default arguments are bound once, when the function is created.

    >>> MyClass.foo()
    20000
    >>> MyClass.x = 0
    >>> MyClass.foo()
    20000