Method that gets called on module deletion in Python

Is there a method that I can add to my module, which will get called when destructing the class?

We have a simple class which has only static member functions and needs to clean up the database connection when unloading the module.

Was hoping there would be a __del__ method either for modules or classes that don't have instances?

Solution

When destructing which class? I though you said module?

Your module lives until the interpreter stops. you can add something to run at that time using the "atexit" module:

import atexit
atexit.register(myfunction)

EDIT: Based on your comments.

Since you don't want it as a destructor, my answer above is correct. Just def another function (or static method if you wish) and register it with the atexit:

def close_database():
    proceed_to_close()

import atexit
atexit.register(close_database)

Now a quick note on your definition.

You said the class doesn't have any instances. So why make it a class? Why not define the functions in the module level instead? modules are first-class objects, cached and imported only once...

Example, instead of defining database.py:

class DataBase(object):
    @staticmethod
    def execute_some_query(query):
        code_here()
        some_code()
    @staticmethod
    def close_database():
        proceed_to_close()
import atexit ; atexit.register(DataBase.close_database)

and using:

from database import DataBase
DataBase.execute_some_query(query)

You could do this instead on database.py:

def execute_some_query(query):
    code_here()
    some_code()

def close_database():
    proceed_to_close()
import atexit ; atexit.register(close_database)

And use it like this:

import database
database.execute_some_query(query)

Or better yet: Use sqlalchemy and avoid all this trouble of creating your own database interface.