class Person(object): _people = [ { 'name': { 'first': 'Hammy', 'last': 'Spammy', }, 'age': 42, 'id': 1, }, { 'name': { 'first': 'Sampers', 'last': 'Dancer', }, 'age': 38, 'id': 2 }, ] def __init__(self): self._index() def _index(self): self._people_by_id = dict(((p['id'], p) for p in self._people)) def getall(self): return self._people def get(self, person_id): return self._people_by_id[person_id] def add(self, person): if None in (person.get('name'), person.get('age')): raise ValueError('Missing required fields!: {}'.format(person)) person['id'] = len(self._people) + 1 self._people.append(person) self._index() return person['id']