Python Decorators
Python decorators are a powerful and expressive feature that allows developers to modify or extend the behavior of functions, methods, or classes without permanently altering their source code. They are implemented as callable objects (typically functions) that take another callable as input and return a modified or wrapped version of it, often using the '@decorator' syntax for readability. This enables functionality like logging, caching, access control, and performance monitoring to be applied consistently across codebases.
Developers should learn decorators to write cleaner, more modular, and reusable code, especially when implementing cross-cutting concerns such as authentication, timing, or error handling in web frameworks like Flask or Django. They are essential for advanced Python programming, including metaprogramming and design patterns like decorator patterns, and are widely used in libraries and frameworks to simplify complex tasks.