Python - what are all the built-in decorators?

python decorator
ryeguy picture ryeguy · Jan 26, 2009 · Viewed 27.4k times · Source

I know of @staticmethod, @classmethod, and @property, but only through scattered documentation. What are all the function decorators that are built into Python? Is that in the docs? Is there an up-to-date list maintained somewhere?

Answer

Abgan picture Abgan · Jan 26, 2009

I don't think so. Decorators don't differ from ordinary functions, you only call them in a fancier way.

For finding all of them try searching Built-in functions list, because as you can see in Python glossary the decorator syntax is just a syntactic sugar, as the following two definitions create equal functions (copied this example from glossary):

def f(...):
    ...
f = staticmethod(f)

@staticmethod
def f(...):

So any built-in function that returns another function can be used as a decorator. Question is - does it make sense to use it that way? :-)

functools module contains some functions that can be used as decorators, but they aren't built-ins you asked for.

Related questions

How does the @property decorator work in Python?

I would like to understand how the built-in function property works. What confuses me is that property can also be used as a decorator, but it only takes arguments when used as a built-in function and not when used as …

Read More
How to make function decorators and chain them together?

How can I make two decorators in Python that would do the following? @makebold @makeitalic def say(): return "Hello" ...which should return: "<b><i>Hello</i></b>" I'm not trying to make …

Read More
Creating a singleton in Python

This question is not for the discussion of whether or not the singleton design pattern is desirable, is an anti-pattern, or for any religious wars, but to discuss how this pattern is best implemented in Python in such a way …

Read More