Base64Encoder class wrapper

Question

I'm new in python and I'm wondering if there any issue I should worry about in the following code?

from base64 import b64encode
class Base64Encoder:
 @classmethod
 def encode_basic(cls, usr, pwd):
 token = cls.base64_encode(f"{usr}:{pwd}")
 return f'Basic {token}'
 @classmethod
 def encode_bearer(cls, token):
 return f'Bearer {token}'
 @staticmethod
 def base64_encode(token):
 return b64encode(token.encode('ascii')).decode('ascii')

• Mast: Did you write this code yourself?
• 200_success: Please fix your indentation. The easiest way to post code is to paste it into the question editor, highlight it, and press Ctrl-K to mark it as a code block.
• 200_success: What is the purpose of encode_bearer()?

Answer 1

You've got a class with only two classmethods and one staticmethod. One classmethod does not use the class argument, the other one refers to a static method. Hence none of the class' methods use either the class or one of its instances. Thus, you do not require a class at all:

def encode_basic(usr, pwd):
 token = base64_encode(f"{usr}:{pwd}")
 return f'Basic {token}'
def encode_bearer(token):
 return f'Bearer {token}'
def base64_encode(token):
 return b64encode(token.encode('ascii')).decode('ascii')

Also consider adding docstrings to the functions, that explain how they are supposed to be used. Without knowlege of your program's context it is hard to tell, why the strings are being formatted in the respective ways and why one string needs ASCII encoding.

• indigo153: thanks for the recommendation. What if I use those methods in many places and I don't want to duplicate it in each place? That's why I create a class
• Richard Neumann: You can re-use functions just like classes. Both can be imported by other modules.