Named tuple and default values for optional keyword arguments

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I’m trying to convert a longish hollow “data” class into a named tuple. My class currently looks like this:

class Node(object):
    def __init__(self, val, left=None, right=None):
        self.val = val
        self.left = left
        self.right = right

After conversion to namedtuple it looks like:

from collections import namedtuple
Node = namedtuple('Node', 'val left right')

But there is a problem here. My original class allowed me to pass in just a value and took care of the default by using default values for the named/keyword arguments. Something like:

class BinaryTree(object):
    def __init__(self, val):
        self.root = Node(val)

But this doesn’t work in the case of my refactored named tuple since it expects me to pass all the fields. I can of course replace the occurrences of Node(val) to Node(val, None, None) but it isn’t to my liking.

So does there exist a good trick which can make my re-write successful without adding a lot of code complexity (metaprogramming) or should I just swallow the pill and go ahead with the “search and replace”? 🙂

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