📦 Stash - Memory Optimisation Class-Decorator

What is Stash?

Stash is a 'slots'-based Python class-decorator developed to assist Python developers in significantly reducing memory overhead when initiating individual classes. It dynamically creates a new optimised class with necessary dunder-methods behind the scene (init, repr, eq), and also adds user-specified methods to ensure custom functionality. The application also supports immutability through 'Freeze' parameter, disabling user's ability to set attribute values post-initialisation for better memory efficiency.

❓ Why use Stash?

Python's default class instances store attributes in a __dict__, which provides general flexibility but at the cost of significant memory overhead - Especially when constructing large numbers of objects. Stash helps to eliminate this fact by replacing this traditional memory storage with __slots__ resulting in:

• ⚡ Lower Memory Usage: Substantially reduces per-instance memory overhead.
• 🚀 Faster Attribute Access: Slots-based storage supports faster lookup than ordinary __dict__.
• 🔐 Optional Immutability: Prevents unintended mutations by freezing attributes post-init.
• 🧼 Clean API: Less boilerplate code as Stash automatically generates __init__, __repr__, __eq__.
• 🧩 Selective Method Preservation: Use @conserve to explicitly preserve methods - only keep what's essential.
• 🧠 Better for Large Datasets: Ideal for performance-critical application like data science, simulations, and high-volume APIs.

Stash is designed to help you write lean, efficient and Pythonic code

📋 Key Features

• 🎁 Simple-to-use Python class decorator for memory optimisation.
• 🛠️ Dynamically creates slots-based classes to minimize memory overhead.
• ⚗️ Adds essential dunder methods (init, repr, eq).
• 🔄 Allows user to specify class-methods to preserve and inherit.
• ❄️ Supports attribute Freeze-functionality (_frozen) for increased memory efficiency.
• 📊 Retains original class metadata for analysis, debugging and introspection.

🧠 Installation

Install Stash using your preferred Package Manager.

pip install stash-memory
# or
poetry add stash-memory
# or
conda install stash-memory

#️⃣ Quickstart Example

from Stash import Stash

@Stash
class Example:
    name: str
    age: int
    is_single: bool

example1 = Example(
    name="Tony Stark",
    age=34,
    is_single=False
)

print(example1.name)        # Tony Stark
print(example1.age)         # 34
print(example1.is_single)   # False

NOTE: An __init__ method is automatically created similarly to @dataclass

🧊 Freeze mechanic

Stash also supports immutability by disabling modifications to instance attributes after initialization. By setting freeze=True, individual instances become read-only. Any attempts to modify or change attributes raises an AttributeError.

from Stash import Stash

@Stash(freeze=True)
class Example:
    name: str
    age: int
    is_villain: bool

example1 = Example(
    name="Otto Octavius",
    age=52, 
    is_villain=True
)

example1.name = "Norman Osborn"     # Raises an AttributeError, as values are immutable.

🔒 Preserve Methods

Utilise the @conserve decorator to explicitly mark methods for preservation in the new slots-based class. Individual methods NOT marked will not be present in new class.

from Stash import Stash, conserve

@Stash
class Example:
    name: str
    age: int
    is_superhero: bool

    # Method is preserved
    @conserve
    def smash(self):
        print(f"{self.name} SMASH!")

    # Method is NOT preserved, due to lack of @conserve-decorator
    def surrender(self):     
        print(f"{self.name} surrenders!")

example1 = Example(
    name="Bruce Banner",
    age=39,
    is_superhero=True
)

example1.smash()                # Successfully runs and prints message.

try:                            # Raises AttributeError: Instance has no atribute 'surrender'
    example1.surrender()
except AttributeError as e:
    print(f"Method missing {e}")

📈 Benchmark Results

To validate Stash's memory optimisation, I performed a benchmark test utilising a @Stash decorated class against a standard Python class using tracemalloc.

🧪 Test Setup

• Test: Instantiating 10,000 objects with 3 attributes.
• Compared:
  • ✅ RegularClass - Traditional class utilising __dict__ for attribute storage.
  • ✅ StashClass - Optimised class using @Stash
• Tool: tracemalloc, sys.getsizeof, pympler.asizeof for memory tracking.

💡 Results Summary

⚙️ Advanced Usage

• Inheritance: Preserved methods marked with @conserve are correctly inherited.
• Caching: Stash automatically caches generated classes for improved performance.
• Interning: String attributes are automatically interned to ensure memory efficiency.

🧪 Testing

Stash provides a full testing suite covering preservation, immutability, caching and general performance metrics. Run tests via:

pytest

📜 Licensing

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE section for further details.

👥 Collaboration

If you have any suggestions for improvements to the codebase, future app extensions or you simply wish to help expand Stash's functionality further, please do not hesitate to reach out at: HysingerDev@gmail.com