Say we want to teach our dog class from the previous example how to howl, we can easily do it by defining a new howl function and adding it to our class like so. In ruby, a monkey patch mp is any dynamic modification to a class and is often used as a synonym for dynamically modifying any class add new or overwrite existing methods at runtime. Were in the future, and with github and bundler there is now rarely a need to monkey patch ruby code in your applications monkey patching is the dangerousyetfrequentlyuseful technique of reopening existing classes to change or add to their behavior. But i would like a more detailed explanation of why it cannot be done, and maybe what feature, if available in python, would allow this. Ruby journal howtoopenslashoverrideslash monkey patcha class in ruby. Lines 14 are for making this code compatible between python 2 and 3. How to monkey patch a class in ruby solid foundation web. Im slowly moving from php5 to python on some personal projects, and im currently loving the experience. Jun 23, 2018 hello friends, in this video you will learn about monkey patching. I had no idea you could access the calling scope like this in ruby. Monkeypatching a python instance method par alex marandon publie 09112016 for a django project, i needed an easy way to automatically add a specific query string parameter named token to any url.
Another case for monkey patching is if you use a third party library, the code is already using the existing class everywhere. This was done by creating a follow up human class block. Mar 11, 2015 safely applying monkey patches in python. Ruby on rails sql this modified text is an extract of the original stack overflow documentation created by following contributors and released under cc bysa 3. Jul 11, 2008 ruby s open classes are powerful but can easily be misused. Instead, i wrote up something that has the same issues so you can see what i consider continue reading python. When monkey patching an instance method, can you call the. Monkey patching is the technique of swapping functions or methods with others in order to change a module, library or class behavior there are some people with strong opinions about it. Monkey patching is the new black in the ruby community.
The first argument in send is the message that youre sending to the object that is, the name of a method. Before i show you how to override a class, i want to ensure that you understand that monkeypatching is not considered a good practice. What i did notice from the ruby community was that monkey patching was both common and highlyregarded. Both are beautiful languages that, when written well, are intuitive and can read much like english. Before choosing to go down the python route i looked at ruby. In ruby, python, and many other dynamic programming languages, the term monkey patch only refers to dynamic modifications of a class or module at runtime, motivated by the intent to patch existing thirdparty code as a workaround to a bug or feature which does not act as desired.
In this case, monkey patching means adding a new variable or method to a class after its been defined. You have to remember to patch it in the same place you use it. I havent, but it comes really useful when testing, to simulate sideeffecting functions or to silence expected errors and warnings. Apr 21, 2010 finished the breckenridge brewery sampler pack and running on ruby 1.
Jun 17, 2015 in todays tutorial well be looking at monkey patching in ruby. There are many cases where its fine to monkey patch, but it should definitely not be your first weapon of choice. Modules and classes are effectively global, so patching on them has to be undone after the test or the patch will persist into other tests and cause hard to diagnose problems. First up, well add a handy method to generate some lorem ipsum text. Monkey patching in python is often see as being one of those things you should never do. Monkey patching can only be done in dynamic languages, of which python is a good example. Monkey patching a class in another module in python. This is offered in some dynamic typing languages like javascript, perl, python etc. Monkeypatching a python instance method makina corpus. I wasnt all that happy with having to define my c method in a module and include it in the main scope.
Ruby supports what some simianprimate aficionados would call monkeypatching. The examples i have found showing how to do this have all assumed id be calling the class myself e. Today one of my coworkers came and got me so that i could explain some weird python code theyd found. I have already concluded that it cannot be done as a few of you have answered. To set the stage, i first learned web development through python and the python framework called django. In particular the access of actually invokes the descriptor protocol and. Those kind of creeping problems will bite your ass hard on production system at 2am, when you try to find culprit to nasty segfaults due to crappy cbinding. Rather than talking about different definitions of monkey patching, i would like to just focus on the example above. Whats the deal with monkeypatching and why is everyone using it. Or perhaps you need to monkey patch a class you own. Nov 27, 2008 monkey business and how to track monkeypatching of classes in ruby. To celebrate my 2 month anniversary with ruby, i thought id play around a bit with its metaprogramming features. Instance monkey patching in python oct 7 th, 20 monkey patching is the technique of swapping functions or methods with others in order to change a module, library or class behavior.
Fun with mapreduce and hadoop calculating stock market statistics in a parallel fashion summer of hawkwind aka running your rails tests using an inmemory database monkey patching in ruby. In ruby, python, and many other dynamic programming languages, the term monkey patch only refers to dynamic modifications of a class or module at runtime. Monkey patching, while convenient, has some pitfalls that arent immediately obvious. Because python classes are mutable, and methods are just attributes of the class, you can do this as much as you like and, in fact, you can even replace classes and functions in a module in exactly the same way. Rubys open classes are a useful feature that allows to add methods to an already. You could subclass all you want but the third party library would still use the original class.
Some do regard it as a useful necessity you cant avoid in order to patch bugs in third party code. Jul 12, 2008 monkey patching is the new black in the ruby community. This is possible because ruby supports a concept known as open classes, which lets you do exactly this, i. This can be scary in a production environment because it is very difficult to debug this kind of code, but this can be very. It dealt with cmake, but since it was internal code, i wont be able to show it here. Monkey business and how to track monkeypatching of classes. To patch module or class variables or functions is easy, because python doesnt create protected or private entities and in most cases. How to monkey patch a ruby class inside a method stack overflow.
Oct 29, 2017 monkey patching can only be done in dynamic languages, of which python is a good example. Say i am monkey patching a method in a class, how could i call the overridden method from the overriding method. So basically whenever you create an instance of the class, you need to patch it so that the attributes exist before you call the run method. Probably the easiest way of adding a new method to an object or replacing an existing one is by patching its class. In python 3, mock is part of the standard library, whereas in python 2 you need to install it by pip install mock. Monkey patching is something thats made possible thanks to the concept of open classes. In python, we can actually change the behavior of code at runtime. Monkey patching a way of programming in which we can modify or extend the executing code at runtime. It doesnt matter that both are only adding methods. If i move the method to class declaration whitout monkey patching, everything is ok, but only if ive restarted the server. To illustrate monkey patching well make some changes to the good old string core class. To the point that smart, experienced hackers reach for a monkey patch as their tool of first resort, even when a simpler, more traditional solution is possible. Unfortunetely, python doesnt allow you to extend builtin classes. This just makes your monkey patches much more surefire.
Ruby s open classes are powerful but can easily be misused. Is monkey patching considered good programming practice. To patch module or class variables or functions is easy, because python doesnt create protected or private entities and in. Monkeypatching as this feature is also known, particularly in the python. This is because it isnt actually equivalent to doing the same thing within the body of the class when it is defined. Sep 11, 2015 i opened up the irb and fired in simple arithmetic operations. In my case the class is initalised within a function in another module. Within a method definition, i am trying to use a class in two ways. Hello friends, in this video you will learn about monkey patching. It opened my eyes to a whole world of accessing callers and callees in a way that i dont normally think about in ruby.
This assumption holds true for the python variant, the ruby variant however. Both are highlevel, dynamic languages used for rapid development. Dr why do people think monkeypatching is ok instead of subclassing or using. If you need to change the behavior of the third party library by modifying the class, monkey patching is the way to go. Ruby language monkey patching in ruby ruby tutorial. If two different libraries add the same method to the same class, then one will always replace the other. Smalltalk, javascript, objectivec, ruby, perl, python, groovy, etc. A common need in tests is to patch a class attribute or a module attribute, for example patching a builtin or patching a class in a module to test that it is instantiated. Mocks and monkeypatching in python semaphore tutorial.
I dont actually think that monkey patching is destroying ruby, but i do think the proliferation of the technique has real and troubling implications for rubys future. Monkey patching, for anyone who doesnt know, refers to the practice of extending or modifying existing code by changing classes at runtime. I am unable to monkey patch a class inside a method body. I hope you will find this video useful as previous ones. If you have not subscribed the channel please hit the subscribe button. After spending four years building django apps, i got a job doing ruby on rails and expected the transition to be straightforward.
784 1398 1582 1083 372 1335 1442 1508 19 322 533 1 1462 491 1085 56 834 933 363 731 1142 490 903 726 439 526 771 1265 850