High Decorators Question 149 of 228

What goes wrong when decorating instance methods, and how do descriptors fit in?

Python & Django · Speak this in 60–90 seconds · Faridabad & Delhi NCR

PICTURE THIS: HOW TO EXPLAIN IT

IdeaDecorators

HowWhat happens inside

Why they askShows real use

Simple meaning

A decorator that returns a raw function can break method binding because functions are descriptors that inject self.

WHY — Decorators instead of guessing?

Why interviewers care about Decorators:

Decorators questions separate people

who only read docs from people who shipped.

Keep it short, concrete,

and tied to Python work.

Stay structured

Name the idea, why it exists, then one short example.

Close cleanly

End with when you use it and one common pitfall.

STEPS — What happens step by step?

Before you speak the answer, walk the interviewer through these steps:

1
A decorator that returns
a raw function can break method binding because functions are descriptors that inject self.
2
functools.wraps preserves function type
so binding still works.
3
Classmethod and staticmethod are
themselves descriptors
4
wrapping them requires decorating
in the correct order, usually innermost.
5
Common mistake
What juniors usually get wrong.
6
Close
When you pick this over the alternative.

EXAMPLE — See it in action

Here's a short line you can speak, broken into clear beats:

Say this line

“functools.wraps preserves function type so binding still works.”

Break into beats

functoolswrapspreservesfunctiontypeso

Speaking order

2987408337471632900

Note: Adapt this scaffold to your own project — keep it under 60–90 seconds.

Key takeaway

A decorator that returns a raw function can break method binding because functions are descriptors that inject self. functools.wraps preserves function type so binding still works.