listclasses 1.0.0

A simple decorator to make custom sequence types

listclasses

A Python library providing a @listclass decorator that transforms standard classes into powerful, type-safe, and highly customizable custom sequence types

Features:

· Type Safety: Enforce strict data types for sequence items · Length Constraints: Define fixed-size or dynamic sequences · Immutability: Easily create read-only (frozen) collections · Rich API: Seamlessly integrates with built-in functions (len(), repr(), iteration, slicing) · Copy Support: Native support for shallow and deep copying · Pretty Printing: Built-in methods for clean text formatting out of the box · Installation: Add the listclass decorator code directly to your project

from listclasses import listclass

Basic Usage

from listclasses import listclass

@listclass
class Inventory:
    pass

# Create an instance with initial items
items = Inventory("Sword", "Shield", "Potion")

print(items)          # Output: Inventory(Sword, Shield, Potion)
print(items[0])       # Output: Sword
print(len(items))     # Output: 3

Advanced Configuration

The @listclass decorator accepts configuration parameters to restrict container behavior

Enforcing Strict Types

@listclass(type=int)
class IntegerList:
    pass

# Works perfectly
numbers = IntegerList(1, 2, 3)

# Raises TypeError: Incorrect type: expected: int got: str
numbers = IntegerList(1, "two", 3)

Enforcing more than one type

@listclass(type=int | None)
class List:
    pass

# Works perfectly
numbers_and_None = List(1, 2, 3, None)

# Raises TypeError: Incorrect type: expected: int | None got: str
numbers_and_None = List(1, "two", 3)

Setting Fixed Lengths

@listclass(len=2)
class Coordinates:
    pass

# Works perfectly
point = Coordinates(10, 20)

# Raises ValueError: Too many items: expected: 2 got: 3
point = Coordinates(10, 20, 30)

Creating Frozen (Immutable) Lists

@listclass(frozen=True)
class ReadOnlyData:
    pass

data = ReadOnlyData("A", "B")

# Raises TypeError: 'ReadOnlyData' object does not support item assignment
data[0] = "Z"

Built-in Formatting

listclasses comes with utility methods to print your items cleanly.

@listclass
class TodoList:
    pass

todos = TodoList("Buy milk", "Clean room", "Code Python")

# Dotted list format
todos.print_dotted()
# Output:
# ·  Buy milk
# ·  Clean room
# ·  Code Python

# Numbered list format
todos.print_numbered()
# Output:
# 1. Buy milk
# 2. Clean room
# 3. Code Python

API Reference

Decorator Arguments

Argument	Type	Default	Description
len	int	0	Expected length of the collection. 0 means dynamic size.
type	type	any	Restricts elements to a single or multiple explicit python types.
frozen	bool	False	If True, prevents item assignment and mutating operations.

Available Methods

Depending on configuration (frozen and len), instances support standard list operations:

· Access: getitem, iter, contains, count(), index() · Mutation (Dynamic only): append(), pop(), clear(), insert(), delitem · Ordering (Mutable only): sort(), reverse() · Math: add (+), iadd (+=)