Summary

The points made so far, are the basics of using classes and objects in Python. I will now summarise these basics in a single example:

  1. First, we create a base class:

     4class Form:
 5    """Form class: has method move"""
 6
 7    def __init__(self, x, y):
 8        self.x = x
 9        self.y = y
10
11    def move(self, deltaX, deltaY):
12        self.x = self.x + deltaX
13        self.y = self.y + deltaY
    Line 7

    The __init__ method requires one instance (self) and two parameters.

    Lines 8 and 9

    The two instance variables x and y, which are accessed via self.

    Line 11

    The move method requires one instance (self) and two parameters.

    Lines 12 and 13

    Instance variables that are set in the move method.

  2. Next, create a subclass that inherits from the base class Form:

    16class Square(Form):
17    """Square Class:inherits from Form"""
18
19    def __init__(self, length=1, x=0, y=0):
20        super().__init__(x, y)
21        self.length = length
    Line 16

    The class Square inherits from the class Form.

    Line 19

    Square’s __init__ takes one instance (self) and three parameters, all with defaults.

    Line 20

    Circle’s __init__ uses super() to call Form’s __init__.

  3. Finally, we create another subclass that also contains a static method:

    27class Circle(Form):
28    """Circle Class: inherits from Form and has method area"""
29
30    circles = []
31    pi = 3.14159
32
33    def __init__(self, diameter=1, x=0, y=0):
34        super().__init__(x, y)
35        self.diameter = diameter
36        self.__class__.circles.append(self)
37
38    def circumference(self):
39        return self.diameter * self.__class__.pi
40
41    @classmethod
42    def circumferences(cls):
43        """Class method to sum all circle circumferences."""
44        csum = 0
45        for c in cls.circles:
46            csum = csum + c.circumference()
47        return csum
    Lines 30 and 31

    pi and circles are class variables for Circle.

    Line 33

    In the __init__ method, the instance inserts itself into the circles list.

    Lines 38 and 39

    circumferences is a class method and takes the class itself (cls) as a parameter.

    Line 42

    uses the parameter cls to access the class variable circles.

Now you can create some instances of the class Circle and analyse them. Since the __init__ method of Circle has default parameters, you can create a circle without specifying any parameters:

>>> import form
>>> c1 = form.Circle()
>>> c1.diameter, c1.x, c1.y
(1, 0, 0)

If you specify parameters, they are used to set the values of the instance:

>>> c2 = form.Circle(2, 3, 4)
>>> c2.diameter, c2.x, c2.y
(2, 3, 4)

When you call the move() method, Python does not find a move() method in the Circle class, so it goes up the inheritance hierarchy and uses the move() method of Form:

>>> c2.move(5, 6)
>>> c2.diameter, c2.x, c2.y
(2, 8, 10)

You can also call the class method circumferences() of the class Circle, either through the class itself or through an instance:

>>> form.Circle.circumferences()
9.424769999999999
>>> c2.circumferences()
9.424769999999999