How to use a list of strings as variable names/object attributes?

Question

What I'd like to do is have a list of strings be used as attributes of an object when it is created. I've seen another topic discuss using a list of strings as variables by creating a dictionary, but this seems to keep the strings as strings, which won't work for me, I don't think. Here's what I would like to work. It's a DnD exercise:

abilities = ['strength', 'dexterity', 'constitution', 'intelligence', 'wisdom', 'charisma']


class Character:
    def __init__(self):
        for ability in abilities:
            self.ability = roll_ability()       #this is a call to an outside function

Thanks!

There's almost certainly a duplicate for this, but I'm having trouble finding a good one. Maybe stackoverflow.com/q/30790947/1126841, but I'm not certain enough to close this as a duplicate myself. — chepner
– chepner, Commented Jan 21, 2020 at 19:09

chepner · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-21 19:05:20Z

2

Use setattr:

def __init__(self):
    for ability in abilities:
        setattr(self, ability, roll_ability())

answered Jan 21, 2020 at 19:05

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chepner

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3 Comments

Charnel Over a year ago

This is a bad practice to use global vars and specially in class initialization.

chepner Over a year ago

Pretend abilities = self.abilities is the first line, and that Character.abilities is a class attribute.

kaya3 Over a year ago

Or just pretend abilities is named ABILITIES indicating that it is supposed to be used as a constant. Global variables are only bad practice when they aren't constant; Character is also a global variable holding a reference to the class, for example.

kaya3 · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-21 19:10:22Z

0

Since this is for a D&D game, it's likely you will need to access the ability scores dynamically too; for example, a saving_throw method could take the name of the ability you are using to roll a saving throw. In that case, it is usually a better design to use a dictionary instead of separate attributes:

class Character:
    def __init__(self):
        self.abilities = { ability: roll_ability() for ability in abilities }

    def get_ability_score(self, ability):
        return self.abilities[ability]

    def saving_throw(self, ability, bonus=0):
        return roll_dice(20) + self.abilities[ability] + bonus

answered Jan 21, 2020 at 19:10

kaya3

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1 Comment

John Salerno Over a year ago

I don't know. I'm doing it as an exercise on Exercism, so it has to pass their test, which I think looks for specific things. I'm not sure a dictionary would work.

Charnel · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-21 19:37:30Z

0

This can be yet another option to go with avoiding using global vars:

class Something:

    def __init__(self, *args):
        for ability in args:
            setattr(self, ability, roll_ability())


abilities = ['strength', 'dexterity', 'constitution', 'intelligence', 'wisdom', 'charisma']
s = Something(*abilities)

edited Jan 21, 2020 at 19:37

answered Jan 21, 2020 at 19:32

Charnel

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