taichi-dev/taichi

Get rid of @property when applicable

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#3,913 opened on Dec 30, 2021

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Description

As shown in https://github.com/taichi-dev/taichi/pull/3910, replacing property with simple attributes can speedup python part of taichi a lot. Lessons learned is that we should avoid using @property when applicable since it's expensive. So let's review the usage of @property in our python codebase and replace them as much as possible.

Here's a list of simple grep in our codebase showing filenames with @property:

 λ ~/github/taichi master rg "@property" python -l
python/taichi/_testing.py
python/taichi/lang/snode.py
python/taichi/lang/mesh.py
python/taichi/lang/impl.py
python/taichi/ui/gui.py
python/taichi/lang/any_array.py
python/taichi/lang/field.py
python/taichi/lang/ast/checkers.py
python/taichi/lang/_ndarray.py
python/taichi/lang/struct.py
python/taichi/snode/fields_builder.py
python/taichi/ui/window.py
python/taichi/snode/snode_tree.py
python/taichi/lang/matrix.py

Removing these should in general help speed up the python part of taichi programs.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
python
Domain
performance
Issue type
refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Pythonunderstanding of @propertyfamiliarity with taichi codebase
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Examine each file listed in the issue (e.g., python/taichi/ testing.py, python/taichi/lang/snode.py) to identify @property decorators. For each property, assess whether it can be replaced with a simple attribute or if it has side effects that require keeping the property. Refer to the referenced PR #3910 for examples of the replacement pattern. Ensure that all changes maintain backward compatibility and pass existing tests.