Objects

What is an Object?#

In Python, as in other Object-Oriented Programming languages, an object is an instance of a class. It’s a tangible entity that combines both data (in the form of properties or attributes) and behaviors (methods).

Defining an Object#

To derive an object, a class must first be defined using the class keyword.

1class Dog:
2    pass

This Dog class doesn’t have any attributes or methods. To create an object of class Dog, you would instantiate like this:

1rover = Dog()

In this scenario, rover is an object (or instance) of the Dog class.

Object Attributes and Methods#

Objects have attributes and methods. While attributes are essentially variables within the class, methods are functions that define how an object can interact with its attributes.

1class Dog:
2    def __init__(self, name, age):
3        self.name = name
4        self.age = age
5
6    def bark(self):
7        return f"{self.name} says woof!"

In this example, name and age are attributes. The bark function is a method of the Dog class. The self.name refers to the name attribute of the specific Dog object that calls the method.

Accessing Object Attributes and Methods#

You can access an object’s attributes and methods using the dot (.) operator.

1rover = Dog('Rover', 5)
2print(rover.name)  # Outputs: Rover
3print(rover.age)  # Outputs: 5
4print(rover.bark())  # Outputs: Rover says woof!

Objects are a fundamental part of OOP and understanding them is key to structuring your Python code in an organized manner.