Singleton Method – Python Design Patterns
Last Updated :
08 Jul, 2022
Prerequisite: Singleton Design pattern | Introduction
What is Singleton Method in Python
Singleton Method is a type of Creational Design pattern and is one of the simplest design patterns00 available to us. It is a way to provide one and only one object of a particular type. It involves only one class to create methods and specify the objects.
Singleton Design Pattern can be understood by a very simple example of Database connectivity. When each object creates a unique Database Connection to the Database, it will highly affect the cost and expenses of the project. So, it is always better to make a single connection rather than making extra irrelevant connections which can be easily done by Singleton Design Pattern.
singleton-pattern
Definition: The singleton pattern is a design pattern that restricts the instantiation of a class to one object.
Now let’s have a look at the different implementations of the Singleton Design pattern.
Method 1: Monostate/Borg Singleton Design pattern
Singleton behavior can be implemented by Borg’s pattern but instead of having only one instance of the class, there are multiple instances that share the same state. Here we don’t focus on the sharing of the instance identity instead we focus on the sharing state.
Python3
class Borg:
__shared_state = dict ()
def __init__( self ):
self .__dict__ = self .__shared_state
self .state = 'GeeksforGeeks'
def __str__( self ):
return self .state
if __name__ = = "__main__" :
person1 = Borg()
person2 = Borg()
person3 = Borg()
person1.state = 'DataStructures'
person2.state = 'Algorithms'
print (person1)
print (person2)
person3.state = 'Geeks'
print (person1)
print (person2)
print (person3)
|
Output:
Algorithms
Algorithms
Geeks
Geeks
Geeks
Singleton-Design-pattern
It is easy to notice that once an object is created, the synchronization of the threading is no longer useful because now the object will never be equal to None and any sequence of operations will lead to consistent results.
So, when the object will be equal to None, then only we will acquire the Lock on the getInstance method.
Python3
import threading
class SingletonDoubleChecked( object ):
__singleton_lock = threading.Lock()
__singleton_instance = None
@classmethod
def instance( cls ):
if not cls .__singleton_instance:
with cls .__singleton_lock:
if not cls .__singleton_instance:
cls .__singleton_instance = cls ()
return cls .__singleton_instance
if __name__ = = '__main__' :
class X(SingletonDoubleChecked):
pass
class Y(SingletonDoubleChecked):
pass
A1, A2 = X.instance(), X.instance()
B1, B2 = Y.instance(), Y.instance()
assert A1 is not B1
assert A1 is A2
assert B1 is B2
print ( 'A1 : ' , A1)
print ( 'A2 : ' , A2)
print ( 'B1 : ' , B1)
print ( 'B2 : ' , B2)
|
Output:
A1 : __main__.X object at 0x02EA2590
A2 : __main__.X object at 0x02EA2590
B1 : __main__.Y object at 0x02EA25B0
B2 : __main__.Y object at 0x02EA25B0
Creating a singleton in Python
In the classic implementation of the Singleton Design pattern, we simply use the static method for creating the getInstance method which has the ability to return the shared resource. We also make use of the so-called Virtual private Constructor to raise the exception against it although it is not much required.
Python3
class Singleton:
__shared_instance = 'GeeksforGeeks'
@staticmethod
def getInstance():
if Singleton.__shared_instance = = 'GeeksforGeeks' :
Singleton()
return Singleton.__shared_instance
def __init__( self ):
if Singleton.__shared_instance ! = 'GeeksforGeeks' :
raise Exception( "This class is a singleton class !" )
else :
Singleton.__shared_instance = self
if __name__ = = "__main__" :
obj = Singleton()
print (obj)
obj = Singleton.getInstance()
print (obj)
|
Output:
__main__.Singleton object at 0x014FFE90
__main__.Singleton object at 0x014FFE90
Class diagram
Class Diagram of Singleton Design Pattern
singleton-class-diagram
Advantages of using the Singleton Method:
- Initializations: An object created by the Singleton method is initialized only when it is requested for the first time.
- Access to the object: We got global access to the instance of the object.
- Count of instances: In singleton, method classes can’t have more than one instance
Disadvantages of using the Singleton Method:
- Multithread Environment: It’s not easy to use the singleton method in a multithread environment, because we have to take care that the multithread wouldn’t create a singleton object several times.
- Single responsibility principle: As the Singleton method is solving two problems at a single time, it doesn’t follow the single responsibility principle.
- Unit testing process: As they introduce the global state to the application, it makes the unit testing very hard.
Applicability
- Controlling over global variables: In the projects where we specifically need strong control over the global variables, it is highly recommended to use Singleton Method
- Daily Developers use: Singleton patterns are generally used in providing the logging, caching, thread pools, and configuration settings and are often used in conjunction with Factory design patterns.
Further read: Singleton method in Java, Singleton Design Pattern Practices with Examples
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