Multiple classes in a Python module

Question

I'm very new to Python (I'm coming from a JAVA background) and I'm wondering if anyone could help me with some of the Python standards. Is it a normal or "proper" practice to put multiple class in a module? I have been working with Django and started with the tutorials and they place their database model classes in the same module. Is this something that is normally done or should I stick with 1 class per module? Is there a reason I would do one over the other?

Hope I'm being clear and not to generic. Thanks to everyone in advance!

Answer 1

Here is a useful rule of thumb from what I have seen of typical Java projects:

The bottom-most package in Java should be a file in Python

What does that mean? If your Java project was organized:

toplevel/    subproject/         Foo.java         Bar.java    subproject2/         Baz.java         Qux.java 

Then your Python project should look like:

toplevel/     subproject.py <-- put class Foo, Bar here     subproject2.py <-- put class Baz, Qux here 

Things to notice re: organization:

• Do not use inner classes. Just put classes in the same module
• By convention, things that start with _ are "private"
• It's OK to have "public variables"