https://nalar.dev/tags/dispatch/ Recent content in Dispatch on Nalar Hugo en-us Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0700 https://nalar.dev/single-dispatch-in-python-extensible-type-based-behavior/ Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0700 https://nalar.dev/single-dispatch-in-python-extensible-type-based-behavior/ <p>A function that accepts several kinds of input often begins with a few <code>isinstance()</code> checks. That approach is straightforward when the cases are small and local. As the number of supported types grows, however, one function can become a long decision tree that mixes unrelated implementations.</p> <p>Python&rsquo;s <code>functools.singledispatch</code> offers another design. It turns one function into a generic function whose implementation is selected from the runtime type of its first argument. Type-specific behavior can then be registered separately while callers keep using one public function.</p>