python memoize decorator example

memoize.py

def memoize(fn):
    memory = {}
    def simple_memoizer(*param_tuple):
        if param_tuple in memory:
            return memory[param_tuple]
        else:
            memory[param_tuple] = result = fn(*param_tuple)
            return result
    return simple_memoizer

@memoize
def normalize_author(author):
    try:
        normalized = NormalizeAuthor(author, uh=UH) # pass in our own UnicodeHandler obj
    except:
        log.error("Failed normalizing author name %s" % author)
        normalized = author
    return normalized