Python Code Style

Python code organization conventions for clean, maintainable codebases covering method ordering, datetime handling, circular import avoidance, and modern type annotations.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

•Organizing methods in service classes or modules
•Working with datetime objects and timestamps
•Resolving circular import issues
•Adding type annotations to code
•Structuring function-based modules

Quick Reference

Method Organization Hierarchy

python

class MyService:
    # 1. Special methods (__init__, __str__, etc.)
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    # 2. Class methods
    @classmethod
    def from_config(cls, config: dict):
        pass

    # 3. Static methods
    @staticmethod
    def parse_id(value: str):
        pass

    # 4. Instance methods (public → high-level → low-level)
    def process_request(self):  # Public, high-level
        pass

    def validate_input(self):  # Public, mid-level
        pass

    # 5. Private helper methods
    def _internal_helper(self):
        pass

Datetime Usage

python

from datetime import datetime, timezone

# ✅ Always timezone-aware
now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
timestamp = datetime(2025, 1, 15, 10, 30, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)

# ❌ Never naive
now = datetime.now()  # Missing timezone

Principle: Method Organization

Public Before Private

Public methods (part of the API) appear before private/internal methods (prefixed with _). This allows developers to understand the public API of each service at a glance.

Anti-Pattern (❌ Avoid)

python

class UserService:
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    # ❌ Private method before public methods
    def _validate_email(self, email: str):
        pass

    # ❌ Public methods scattered after private ones
    def create_user(self, email: str, name: str):
        return self._validate_email(email)

    def _hash_password(self, password: str):
        pass

    def authenticate(self, email: str, password: str):
        pass

Problems:

•Readers must scan through implementation details to find the public API
•Harder to understand what the service does at a glance
•Inconsistent organization makes navigation difficult

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

python

class UserService:
    def __init__(self, db: Database):
        self.db = db

    # Public API methods first (high-level to low-level)
    def create_user(self, email: str, name: str) -> User:
        """Create a new user account."""
        self._validate_email(email)
        return User(email=email, name=name)

    def authenticate(self, email: str, password: str) -> bool:
        """Authenticate user credentials."""
        user = self.db.find_user(email)
        return self._verify_password(user, password)

    # Private helper methods last
    def _validate_email(self, email: str):
        """Validate email format."""
        if "@" not in email:
            raise ValueError("Invalid email")

    def _verify_password(self, user: User, password: str) -> bool:
        """Verify password hash."""
        return self._hash_password(password) == user.password_hash

    def _hash_password(self, password: str) -> str:
        """Hash password for storage."""
        return hashlib.sha256(password.encode()).hexdigest()

Standard Method Order

Methods follow this ordering:

•Special methods (__init__, __str__, __repr__, etc.)
•Class methods (@classmethod)
•Static methods (@staticmethod)
•Instance methods (public, ordered by abstraction level)
•Private methods (prefixed with _)

python

class ReportService:
    def __init__(self, repo: str):
        self.repo = repo

    def __str__(self):
        return f"ReportService({self.repo})"

    # Class methods
    @classmethod
    def from_config(cls, config: dict):
        return cls(config["repo"])

    # Static methods
    @staticmethod
    def validate_format(fmt: str):
        return fmt in ["json", "csv", "html"]

    # Public instance methods (high-level first)
    def generate_report(self, data: list) -> str:
        validated = self._validate_data(data)
        return self._format_output(validated)

    def export_report(self, report: str, path: str):
        self._write_file(path, report)

    # Private helpers
    def _validate_data(self, data: list):
        return [item for item in data if item]

    def _format_output(self, data: list) -> str:
        return "\n".join(str(item) for item in data)

    def _write_file(self, path: str, content: str):
        with open(path, "w") as f:
            f.write(content)

Benefits

✅ Easier onboarding: New developers quickly understand what a service does

✅ Better maintainability: Clear separation between public contracts and implementation

✅ Intuitive navigation: Consistent structure helps developers find methods quickly

✅ Clearer API boundaries: Public vs. private methods are visually distinct

Principle: Section Headers for Complex Services

When to Use Section Headers

For services with many methods (10+), use descriptive section headers with separators to group related functionality.

Simple Section Comments

python

class SimpleService:
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    # Public API methods
    def operation_one(self):
        pass

    def operation_two(self):
        pass

    # Static utility methods
    @staticmethod
    def utility_function():
        pass

    # Private helper methods
    def _internal_helper(self):
        pass

Descriptive Headers for Complex Services

python

class ComplexService:
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    # ============================================================
    # Core CRUD Operations
    # ============================================================

    def create_resource(self, data: dict):
        pass

    def get_resource(self, id: str):
        pass

    def update_resource(self, id: str, data: dict):
        pass

    def delete_resource(self, id: str):
        pass

    # ============================================================
    # Query Operations
    # ============================================================

    def find_resources(self, filter: dict):
        pass

    def count_resources(self, filter: dict):
        pass

    # ============================================================
    # Utility Operations
    # ============================================================

    @staticmethod
    def parse_identifier(text: str):
        pass

    @staticmethod
    def validate_data(data: dict):
        pass

Benefits

✅ Visual organization: Separators make different sections obvious

✅ Faster navigation: Developers quickly jump to relevant sections

✅ Logical grouping: Related methods are clearly grouped together

Principle: Module-Level Code Organization

Function-Based Modules

For modules with functions rather than classes, use this order:

•Dataclasses and models (public before private)
•Public API functions (high-level to low-level)
•Module utilities (helper functions used by the public API)
•Private helper functions (prefixed with _)

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

python

# artifact_operations.py

from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import List

# ============================================================
# Public Models
# ============================================================

@dataclass
class ProjectArtifact:
    """Public dataclass for artifact data."""
    name: str
    size: int
    created_at: str

@dataclass
class ArtifactMetadata:
    """Metadata for artifact collections."""
    total_count: int
    total_size: int

# ============================================================
# Public API Functions
# ============================================================

def find_artifacts(project: str) -> List[ProjectArtifact]:
    """Highest-level public function - main entry point."""
    raw_data = _fetch_from_api(project)
    return [_parse_artifact(item) for item in raw_data]

def get_artifact_details(artifact: ProjectArtifact) -> dict:
    """Mid-level public function - supporting operation."""
    return {
        "name": artifact.name,
        "size_mb": artifact.size / 1024 / 1024,
        "age_days": calculate_age(artifact.created_at)
    }

# ============================================================
# Module Utilities
# ============================================================

def parse_artifact_name(name: str) -> tuple[str, str]:
    """Utility function used by multiple operations."""
    parts = name.split("-")
    return parts[0], "-".join(parts[1:])

def calculate_age(timestamp: str) -> int:
    """Calculate age in days from timestamp."""
    # Implementation
    pass

# ============================================================
# Private Helper Functions
# ============================================================

def _fetch_from_api(project: str) -> list:
    """Private implementation detail - API interaction."""
    # Implementation
    pass

def _parse_artifact(data: dict) -> ProjectArtifact:
    """Private implementation detail - data parsing."""
    return ProjectArtifact(
        name=data["name"],
        size=data["size"],
        created_at=data["created_at"]
    )

Benefits

✅ Clear structure: Module organization is consistent and predictable

✅ Easy to find: Related code is grouped logically

✅ Public API first: Readers see the module's purpose immediately

Principle: Always Use Timezone-Aware Datetimes

All datetime objects must be timezone-aware. Naive datetimes (without timezone information) are not allowed and will cause validation errors.

Anti-Pattern (❌ Avoid)

python

from datetime import datetime

# ❌ Naive datetime - no timezone information
now = datetime.now()
timestamp = datetime(2025, 1, 15, 10, 30, 0)
utc_now = datetime.utcnow()  # ❌ Deprecated and naive

# Problems with naive datetimes:
# - Ambiguous: Which timezone does this represent?
# - Cannot compare naive and timezone-aware datetimes
# - Serialized without timezone, leading to misinterpretation

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

python

from datetime import datetime, timezone

# ✅ Always use timezone-aware datetimes
now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
timestamp = datetime(2025, 1, 15, 10, 30, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)

# ✅ Use UTC for all internal operations
created_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
last_updated = datetime.now(timezone.utc)

# ✅ Serialize to ISO 8601 with timezone
timestamp_str = now.isoformat()  # "2025-01-15T10:30:00+00:00"

Parsing ISO 8601 Timestamps

Use a helper function for parsing ISO 8601 timestamps:

python

from datetime import datetime, timezone

def parse_iso_timestamp(timestamp_str: str) -> datetime:
    """Parse ISO 8601 timestamp to timezone-aware datetime.

    Handles both "Z" and "+00:00" timezone formats.
    """
    if timestamp_str.endswith("Z"):
        timestamp_str = timestamp_str[:-1] + "+00:00"

    dt = datetime.fromisoformat(timestamp_str)

    # Ensure timezone-aware
    if dt.tzinfo is None:
        dt = dt.replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)

    return dt

# Usage
parsed_dt = parse_iso_timestamp("2025-01-15T10:30:00Z")
parsed_dt2 = parse_iso_timestamp("2025-01-15T10:30:00+00:00")

Domain Model Validation

Validate timezone-aware datetimes in domain models:

python

from dataclasses import dataclass
from datetime import datetime, timezone

@dataclass
class Event:
    name: str
    created_at: datetime

    def __post_init__(self):
        """Validate that datetime fields are timezone-aware."""
        if self.created_at.tzinfo is None:
            raise ValueError(
                f"created_at must be timezone-aware. "
                f"Use datetime.now(timezone.utc) or parse_iso_timestamp()"
            )

# ✅ Valid - timezone-aware
event = Event("deployment", datetime.now(timezone.utc))

# ❌ Raises ValueError - naive datetime
event = Event("deployment", datetime.now())

Why UTC?

✅ Unambiguous: UTC has no daylight saving time

✅ Standard: Industry best practice for system timestamps

✅ Interoperable: Works across all timezones

✅ Comparable: All timestamps in same timezone can be directly compared

Common Pitfalls

❌ Avoid	✅ Use Instead
`datetime.now()`	`datetime.now(timezone.utc)`
`datetime.utcnow()` (deprecated)	`datetime.now(timezone.utc)`
`datetime(2025, 1, 15, 10, 30)`	`datetime(2025, 1, 15, 10, 30, tzinfo=timezone.utc)`
`datetime.fromisoformat(iso_str)`	`parse_iso_timestamp(iso_str)`

Benefits

✅ Prevents comparison errors: No "can't compare offset-naive and offset-aware datetimes"

✅ Unambiguous data: Timestamps clearly indicate their timezone

✅ ISO 8601 compliant: Standard format works everywhere

✅ Validated: Domain models prevent naive datetimes at construction time

Principle: Avoid Circular Imports

Circular imports indicate architectural problems. Fix the dependency structure rather than working around it.

Anti-Pattern (❌ Avoid)

python

# ❌ BAD: TYPE_CHECKING guard
from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, List

if TYPE_CHECKING:
    from module_b import SomeClass  # Only imported during type checking

def process_items(items: List["SomeClass"]):  # String annotation workaround
    pass

# ❌ BAD: Using Any to avoid circular import
from typing import Any, List

def process_items(items: List[Any]):  # Lost type safety
    pass

Problems:

•TYPE_CHECKING means your code works at runtime only because the import is skipped
•Any throws away type safety entirely
•Both hide the architectural issue rather than solving it

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

Fix the dependency structure by establishing one-way dependencies:

•Identify which module is more foundational (lower-level)
•Ensure the lower-level module never imports from higher-level ones
•Verify with grep: grep "from higher_module" lower_module.py should return nothing

python

# lower_level.py - No imports from higher_level.py
from dataclasses import dataclass

@dataclass
class GitHubPullRequest:
    number: int
    title: str
    state: str

# higher_level.py - Can import from lower_level.py
from typing import List
from lower_level import GitHubPullRequest  # ✅ One-way dependency

@dataclass
class ProjectStats:
    project_name: str
    open_prs: List[GitHubPullRequest]  # ✅ Proper typing, no strings

When You Have a Genuine Cycle

If you have a genuine cycle, either:

•Move shared code to a third module that both can depend on
•Refactor so the lower-level module doesn't need higher-level types

python

# Before: Circular dependency
# module_a.py imports from module_b.py
# module_b.py imports from module_a.py

# After: Shared module breaks the cycle
# shared.py - Common types both modules need
@dataclass
class SharedType:
    pass

# module_a.py - Imports from shared
from shared import SharedType

# module_b.py - Imports from shared
from shared import SharedType

Benefits

✅ Clean architecture: One-way dependency graphs are easier to understand

✅ No runtime surprises: All imports work at runtime, not just type checking

✅ Better modularity: Lower-level modules are more reusable

✅ Full type safety: No need for Any or string annotations

Principle: Modern Type Annotations

Use `Self` for Factory Methods

When a classmethod or factory returns an instance of its own class, use Self instead of quoted string annotations:

python

# ❌ Avoid: Quoted string annotation
class User:
    @classmethod
    def from_string(cls, value: str) -> "User":
        return cls()

# ✅ Use: Self type (Python 3.11+)
from typing import Self

class User:
    @classmethod
    def from_string(cls, value: str) -> Self:
        return cls()

    @classmethod
    def from_dict(cls, data: dict) -> Self:
        return cls()

Benefits:

•Cleaner syntax
•Works correctly with subclasses
•Avoids forward reference strings

Use `from future import annotations` for Self-Referential Types

For classes that reference themselves in type hints (tree structures, containers with nested elements):

python

# ✅ Use: Deferred annotations for self-referential types
from __future__ import annotations

from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import List, Optional

@dataclass
class Section:
    name: str
    elements: List[Section]  # ✅ No quotes needed - deferred evaluation
    parent: Optional[Section] = None

    def add(self, element: Section) -> Section:  # ✅ Clean type hints
        self.elements.append(element)
        element.parent = self
        return self

# Without __future__ import, you'd need:
# elements: List["Section"]  # ❌ Less readable

Benefits

✅ Cleaner code: No quoted string annotations

✅ Works with subclasses: Self adapts to the actual class

✅ Better readability: Self-referential types look natural

✅ Forward compatible: Prepares for future Python versions

Related Patterns

This skill relates to several software design patterns:

•Template Method Pattern: Method organization makes it easier to see which methods to override
•Strategy Pattern: Static methods are good candidates for strategy implementations
•Factory Pattern: Class methods serve as alternative constructors
•Value Object Pattern: Timezone-aware datetimes make better value objects

Related Skills

•creating-services: Apply method organization principles when creating service classes
•testing-services: Use consistent organization for test code readability
•domain-modeling: Organize domain model methods following these conventions
•dependency-injection: Constructor organization relates to dependency management

Python Code Style

When to Use This Skill

Quick Reference

Method Organization Hierarchy

Datetime Usage

Principle: Method Organization

Public Before Private

Anti-Pattern (❌ Avoid)

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

Standard Method Order

Benefits

Principle: Section Headers for Complex Services

When to Use Section Headers

Simple Section Comments

Descriptive Headers for Complex Services

Benefits

Principle: Module-Level Code Organization

Function-Based Modules

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

Benefits

Principle: Always Use Timezone-Aware Datetimes

Anti-Pattern (❌ Avoid)

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

Parsing ISO 8601 Timestamps

Domain Model Validation

Why UTC?

Common Pitfalls

Benefits

Principle: Avoid Circular Imports

Anti-Pattern (❌ Avoid)

Recommended Pattern (✅ Use This)

When You Have a Genuine Cycle

Benefits

Principle: Modern Type Annotations

Use Self for Factory Methods

Use from __future__ import annotations for Self-Referential Types

Benefits

Related Patterns

Related Skills

Further Reading

Use `Self` for Factory Methods

Use `from future import annotations` for Self-Referential Types