Python - Converting CSV to Objects - Code Design

Question

I have a small script we\'re using to read in a CSV file containing employees, and perform some basic manipulations on that data.

We read in the data (import_gd_dump), a

Answer 1

you should close your files after reading them I suggest moving all compiled re's tot he top level (otherwise you compile them every call) if self.telephoneNumber is None or self.telephoneNumber == '': cen be easily rewrittent as if not self.telephoneNumber

Answer 2

Looks fine to me. Good job. How often are you going to run this script? Most of your questions are moot if this is a one-off thing.

1. I like the way Employees.cleen_all_phone_numbers() delegates to Employee.clean_phone_number()
2. You really should be using an index (dictionary) here. You can index each employee by hrid when you create them in O(n) and then look them up in O(1).
   • But only do this if you ever have to run the script again...
   • Just get into the habit of using dictionaries. They are painless and make code easier to read. Whenever you write a method lookup_* you probably just want to index a dictionary.
3. not sure. I like explicitly setting state, but this is actually bad design - clean_phone_number() should do that, Employees should be responsible for their own state.