Methods

In the context of Python’s Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), methods are special functions that belong to a class, and therefore, to any object of that class. They allow us to manipulate an object’s attributes or to make it perform specific actions.

Method Definitions#

The definition of methods is very similar to that of functions, with the notable difference that they must be defined inside a class. Below is an example syntax of a method:

1class ClassName:
2    def method_name(self, parameters):
3        # Code to execute
4        ...

In this syntax, method_name is the name of the method, self is a special parameter that references the instance of the class, and parameters represent any additional parameters that the method requires.

Calling Methods#

To call a method, we use the syntax object.method_name(parameters). Below is an example of method creation and calling:

1class Dog:
2    def bark(self):
3        print("Woof!")
4
5my_dog = Dog()
6my_dog.bark()  # prints: Woof!

In this example, we create a Dog class with one method: bark. Then we create an instance of the class and call its bark method.

Types of Methods#

In Python OOP, there are three types of methods:

1. Instance Methods: These are the most common type. They can access and modify instance variables, and can also be used to call other instance methods.

2. Class Methods: These methods are shared among all instances of a class. They can’t access instance variables or methods, but they can access class variables. They are defined using the @classmethod decorator and cls as the first parameter.

3. Static Methods: These methods can’t access instance or class variables or methods. They work like regular functions but belong to the class’s namespace. They are defined using the @staticmethod decorator.

 1class MyClass:
 2    class_var = "I'm a class variable"
 3
 4    def instance_method(self):
 5        return "I'm an instance method"
 6
 7    @classmethod
 8    def class_method(cls):
 9        return "I'm a class method"
10
11    @staticmethod
12    def static_method():
13        return "I'm a static method"

In the above example, instance_method, class_method, and static_method represent an instance method, class method, and static method, respectively.