Binding Unbound Methods: A Pythonic Approach

In Python, unbound methods can often pose a challenge when attempting to bind them to an instance without inadvertently calling them. This issue arises, for instance, when working with wxPython and desiring to organize button data as a class-level list of tuples.

As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, relying on functools.partial can provide a workaround, but there may be a more elegant and Pythonic solution. Fortunately, there exists an effective approach to binding unbound methods without invoking them.

Python functions possess the ability to act as descriptors, making it possible to bind them by invoking their get method. This approach ensures that the unbound method is bound to the specific instance, allowing it to be passed around without any unexpected invocations.

Code Example:

# Declare an unbound method
def some_method(self):
    # Method implementation here

# Bind the unbound method to an instance
instance = MyClass()
bound_method = some_method.__get__(instance, MyClass)

# Continue passing around the bound method without calling it

Conclusion:

Employing the get method as described empowers you to seamlessly bind unbound methods to instances, preserving their unbound status, and resolving the issue encountered when working with wxPython's buttons.