python circular imports once again (aka what's wrong with this design)

Question

Let's consider python (3.x) scripts:

main.py:

from test.team import team
from test.user import user

if __name__ == '__main__':
    u = user()
    t = team()
    u.setTeam(t)
    t.setLeader(u)

test/user.py:

from test.team import team

class user:
    def setTeam(self, t):
        if issubclass(t, team.__class__):
            self.team = t

test/team.py:

from test.user import user

class team:
    def setLeader(self, u):
        if issubclass(u, user.__class__):
            self.leader = u

Now, of course, i've got circular import and splendid ImportError.

So, not being pythonista, I have three questions. First of all:

i. How can I make this thing work ?

And, knowing that someone will inevitably say "Circular imports always indicate a design problem", the second question comes:

ii. Why is this design bad?

And the finally, third one:

iii. What would be better alternative?

To be precise, type checking as above is only an example, there is also a index layer based on class, which permits ie. find all users being members of one team (user class has many subclasses, so index is doubled, for users in general and for each specific subclass) or all teams having given user as a member

Edit:

I hope that more detailed example will clarify what i try to achieve. Files omitted for readibility (but having one 300kb source file scares me somehow, so please assume that every class is in different file)

# ENTITY

class Entity:
    _id    = None
    _defs  = {}
    _data  = None

    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
        self._id   = uuid.uuid4() # for example. or randint(). or x+1.
        self._data = {}.update(kwargs)

    def __settattr__(self, name, value):
        if name in self._defs:
            if issubclass(value.__class__, self._defs[name]):
                self._data[name] = value

                # more stuff goes here, specially indexing dependencies, so we can 
                # do Index(some_class, name_of_property, some.object) to find all   
                # objects of some_class or its children where
                # given property == some.object

            else:
                raise Exception('Some misleading message')
        else:
            self.__dict__[name] = value    

    def __gettattr__(self, name):
        return self._data[name]

# USERS 

class User(Entity):
    _defs  = {'team':Team}

class DPLUser(User):
    _defs  = {'team':DPLTeam}

class PythonUser(DPLUser)
    pass

class PerlUser(DPLUser)
    pass

class FunctionalUser(User):
    _defs  = {'team':FunctionalTeam}

class HaskellUser(FunctionalUser)
    pass

class ErlangUser(FunctionalUser)
    pass

# TEAMS

class Team(Entity):
    _defs  = {'leader':User}

class DPLTeam(Team):
    _defs  = {'leader':DPLUser}

class FunctionalTeam(Team):
    _defs  = {'leader':FunctionalUser}

and now some usage:

t1 = FunctionalTeam()
t2 = DLPTeam()
t3 = Team()

u1 = HaskellUser()
u2 = PythonUser()

t1.leader = u1 # ok
t2.leader = u2 # ok
t1.leader = u2 # not ok, exception
t3.leader = u2 # ok

# now , index

print(Index(FunctionalTeam, 'leader', u2)) # -> [t2]
print(Index(Team, 'leader', u2)) # -> [t2,t3]

So, it works great (implementation details ommitted, but there is nothing complicated) besides of this unholy circular import thing.

user_6302718 · Answer

You could just fix the dependency graph; for example, the user may not have to know about the fact that it is a part of a team. Most circular dependencies admit of such a refactoring.

# team -> user instead of team <-> user
class Team:
    def __init__(self):
        self.users = set()
        self.leader = None

    def add_user(self, user):
        self.users.add(user)

    def get_leader(self):
        return self.leader

    def set_leader(self, user):
        assert user in self.users, 'leaders must be on the team!'
        self.leader = user

Circular dependencies significantly complicate refactoring, inhibit code reuse, and reduce isolation in testing.

Although in Python it is possible to circumvent an ImportError by importing at runtime, importing to the module level, or using other tricks mentioned here, these strategies do paper over a design flaw. It is worth avoiding circular imports if at all possible.

python circular imports once again (aka what's wrong with this design)

5 Answers