Python's Object Oriented Programming (OOPs)

What is Class:
In Python every thing is an object. To create objects we required some Model or
Plan or Blue
print, which is nothing but class.
We can write a class to represent properties (attributes) and actions (behaviour)
of object.
Properties can be represented by variables
Actions can be represented by Methods.
Hence class contains both variables and methods.
How to Define a class?
We can define a class by using class keyword.
Syntax:
class className:
''' documenttation string '''
variables:instance variables,static and local variables
methods: instance methods,static methods,class methods
Documentation string represents description of the class. Within the class doc
string is always
optional. We can get doc string by using the following 2 ways.
1. print(classname.__doc__)
2. help(classname)
Example:
1) class Student:
2) ''''' This is student class with required data'''
3) print(Student.__doc__)
4) help(Student)
Within the Python class we can represent data by using variables.
There are 3 types of variables are allowed.
1. Instance Variables (Object Level Variables)
2. Static Variables (Class Level Variables)
3. Local variables (Method Level Variables)
Within the Python class, we can represent operations by using methods. The
following are various
types of allowed methods
1. Instance Methods
2. Class Methods
3. Static Methods
Example for class:
1) class Student:
2) def __init__(self):
3) self.name='amol'
4) self.age=40
5) self.marks=80
6)
7) def talk(self):
8) print("Hello I am :",self.name)
9) print("My Age is:",self.age)
10) print("My Marks are:",self.marks)
What is Object:
Physical existence of a class is nothing but object. We can create any number of
objects for a class.
Syntax to create object: referencevariable = classname()
Example: s = Student()
What is Reference Variable:
The variable which can be used to refer object is called reference variable.
By using reference variable, we can access properties and methods of object.
Program: Write a Python program to create a Student class and Creates an object to
it. Call the
method talk() to display student details
1) class Student:
2)
3) def __init__(self,name,rollno,marks):
4) self.name=name
5) self.rollno=rollno
6) self.marks=marks
7)
8) def talk(self):
9) print("Hello My Name is:",self.name)
10) print("My Rollno is:",self.rollno)
11) print("My Marks are:",self.marks)
12)
13) s1=Student("amol",101,80)
14) s1.talk()
Self variable:
self is the default variable which is always pointing to current object (like this
keyword in Java)
By using self we can access instance variables and instance methods of object.
Note:
1. self should be first parameter inside constructor
def __init__(self):
2. self should be first parameter inside instance methods
def talk(self):
Constructor Concept:
Constructor is a special method in python.
The name of the constructor should be __init__(self)
Constructor will be executed automatically at the time of object creation.
The main purpose of constructor is to declare and initialize instance variables.
Per object constructor will be exeucted only once.
Constructor can take atleast one argument(atleast self)
Constructor is optional and if we are not providing any constructor then python
will provide
default constructor.
Example:
1) def __init__(self,name,rollno,marks):
2) self.name=name
3) self.rollno=rollno
4) self.marks=marks
Program to demonistrate constructor will execute only once per object:
1) class Test:
2)
3) def __init__(self):
4) print("Constructor exeuction...")
5)
6) def m1(self):
7) print("Method execution...")
8)
9) t1=Test()
10) t2=Test()
11) t3=Test()
12) t1.m1()
Program:
1) class Student:
2)
3)
4) def __init__(self,x,y,z):
5) self.name=x
6) self.rollno=y
7) self.marks=z
8)
9) def display(self):
10) print("Student Name:{}\nRollno:{} \nMarks:
{}".format(self.name,self.rollno,self.marks)
)
11)
12) s1=Student("amol",101,80)
13) s1.display()
14) s2=Student("Sunny",102,100)
15) s2.display()
Differences between Methods and Constructors:
Method Constructor
1. Name of method can be any name 1. Constructor name should be always __init__
2. Method will be executed if we call that
method
2. Constructor will be executed automatically at
the time of object creation.
3. Per object, method can be called any number
of times.
3. Per object, Constructor will be executed only
once
4. Inside method we can write business logic 4. Inside Constructor we have to
declare and
initialize instance variables
Types of Variables:
Inside Python class 3 types of variables are allowed.
1. Instance Variables (Object Level Variables)
2. Static Variables (Class Level Variables)
3. Local variables (Method Level Variables)
1. Instance Variables:
If the value of a variable is varied from object to object, then such type of
variables are called
instance variables.
For every object a separate copy of instance variables will be created.
Where we can declare Instance variables:
1. Inside Constructor by using self variable
2. Inside Instance Method by using self variable
3. Outside of the class by using object reference variable
1. Inside Constructor by using self variable:
We can declare instance variables inside a constructor by using self keyword. Once
we creates
object, automatically these variables will be added to the object.
Example:
1) class Employee:
2)
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.eno=100
5) self.ename='amol'
6) self.esal=10000
7)
8) e=Employee()
9) print(e.__dict__)

2. Inside Instance Method by using self variable:

We can also declare instance variables inside instance method by using self
variable. If any
instance variable declared inside instance method, that instance variable will be
added once we
call taht method.

Example:
1) class Test:
2)
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.a=10
5) self.b=20
6)
7) def m1(self):
8) self.c=30
9)
10) t=Test()
11) t.m1()
12) print(t.__dict__)
3. Outside of the class by using object reference variable:
We can also add instance variables outside of a class to a particular object.
1) class Test:
2)
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.a=10
5) self.b=20
6)
7) def m1(self):
8) self.c=30
9)
10) t=Test()
11) t.m1()
12) t.d=40
13) print(t.__dict__)

How to access Instance variables:

We can access instance variables with in the class by using self variable and
outside of the class by
using object reference.
1) class Test:
2)
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.a=10
5) self.b=20
6)
7) def display(self):
8) print(self.a)
9) print(self.b)
10)
11) t=Test()
12) t.display()
13) print(t.a,t.b)
How to delete instance variable from the object:
1. Within a class we can delete instance variable as follows
del self.variableName
2. From outside of class we can delete instance variables as follows

del objectreference.variableName
Example:
1) class Test:
2) def __init__(self):
3) self.a=10
4) self.b=20
5) self.c=30
6) self.d=40
7) def m1(self):
8) del self.d
9)
10) t=Test()
11) print(t.__dict__)
12) t.m1()
13) print(t.__dict__)
14) del t.c
15) print(t.__dict__)
Note: The instance variables which are deleted from one object,will not be deleted
from other
objects.
Example:
1) class Test:
2) def __init__(self):
3) self.a=10
4) self.b=20
5) self.c=30
6) self.d=40
7)
8)
9) t1=Test()
10) t2=Test()
11) del t1.a
12) print(t1.__dict__)
13) print(t2.__dict__)
If we change the values of instance variables of one object then those changes
won't be reflected
to the remaining objects, because for every object we are separate copy of instance
variables are
available.
Example:
1) class Test:
2) def __init__(self):
3) self.a=10
4) self.b=20
5)
6) t1=Test()
7) t1.a=888
8) t1.b=999
9) t2=Test()
10) print('t1:',t1.a,t1.b)
11) print('t2:',t2.a,t2.b)
1. Static variables:
If the value of a variable is not varied from object to object, such type of
variables we have to
declare with in the class directly but outside of methods. Such type of variables
are called Static
variables.
For total class only one copy of static variable will be created and shared by all
objects of that
class.
We can access static variables either by class name or by object reference. But
recommended to
use class name.
Instance Variable vs Static Variable:
Note: In the case of instance variables for every object a seperate copy will be
created,but in the
case of static variables for total class only one copy will be created and shared
by every object of
that class.
1) class Test:
2) x=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.y=20
5)
6) t1=Test()
7) t2=Test()
8) print('t1:',t1.x,t1.y)
9) print('t2:',t2.x,t2.y)
10) Test.x=888
11) t1.y=999
12) print('t1:',t1.x,t1.y)
13) print('t2:',t2.x,t2.y)
Various places to declare static variables:
1. In general we can declare within the class directly but from out side of any
method
2. Inside constructor by using class name
3. Inside instance method by using class name
4. Inside classmethod by using either class name or cls variable
5. Inside static method by using class name
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) Test.b=20
5) def m1(self):
6) Test.c=30
7) @classmethod
8) def m2(cls):
9) cls.d1=40
10) Test.d2=400
11) @staticmethod
12) def m3():
13) Test.e=50
14) print(Test.__dict__)
15) t=Test()
16) print(Test.__dict__)
17) t.m1()
18) print(Test.__dict__)
19) Test.m2()
20) print(Test.__dict__)
21) Test.m3()
22) print(Test.__dict__)
23) Test.f=60
24) print(Test.__dict__)
How to access static variables:
1. inside constructor: by using either self or classname
2. inside instance method: by using either self or classname
3. inside class method: by using either cls variable or classname
4. inside static method: by using classname
5. From outside of class: by using either object reference or classnmae
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) print(self.a)
5) print(Test.a)
6) def m1(self):
7) print(self.a)
8) print(Test.a)
9) @classmethod
10) def m2(cls):
11) print(cls.a)
12) print(Test.a)
13) @staticmethod
14) def m3():
15) print(Test.a)
16) t=Test()
17) print(Test.a)
18) print(t.a)
19) t.m1()
20) t.m2()
21) t.m3()
Where we can modify the value of static variable:
Anywhere either with in the class or outside of class we can modify by using
classname.
But inside class method, by using cls variable.
Example:
1) class Test:
2) a=777
3) @classmethod
4) def m1(cls):
5) cls.a=888
6) @staticmethod
7) def m2():
8) Test.a=999
9) print(Test.a)
10) Test.m1()
11) print(Test.a)
12) Test.m2()
13) print(Test.a)
Output
777
888
999
*****
If we change the value of static variable by using either self
or object reference variable:
If we change the value of static variable by using either self or object reference
variable, then the
value of static variable won't be changed,just a new instance variable with that
name will be
added to that particular object.
Example 1:
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def m1(self):
4) self.a=888
5) t1=Test()
6) t1.m1()
7) print(Test.a)
8) print(t1.a)
Example:
1) class Test:
2) x=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.y=20
5)
6) t1=Test()
7) t2=Test()
8) print('t1:',t1.x,t1.y)
9) print('t2:',t2.x,t2.y)
10) t1.x=888
11) t1.y=999
12) print('t1:',t1.x,t1.y)
13) print('t2:',t2.x,t2.y)
Example:
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.b=20
5) t1=Test()
6) t2=Test()
7) Test.a=888
8) t1.b=999
9) print(t1.a,t1.b)
10) print(t2.a,t2.b)
------------------------------------
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.b=20
5) def m1(self):
6) self.a=888
7) self.b=999
8)
9) t1=Test()
10) t2=Test()
11) t1.m1()
12) print(t1.a,t1.b)
13) print(t2.a,t2.b)
Output
888 999
10 20
Example:
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.b=20
5) @classmethod
6) def m1(cls):
7) cls.a=888
8) cls.b=999
9)
10) t1=Test()
11) t2=Test()
12) t1.m1()
13) print(t1.a,t1.b)
14) print(t2.a,t2.b)
15) print(Test.a,Test.b)
How to delete static variables of a class:
We can delete static variables from anywhere by using the following syntax
del classname.variablename
But inside classmethod we can also use cls variable
del cls.variablename
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) @classmethod
4) def m1(cls):
5) del cls.a
6) Test.m1()
7) print(Test.__dict__)
Example:
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3) def __init__(self):
4) Test.b=20
5) del Test.a
6) def m1(self):
7) Test.c=30
8) del Test.b
9) @classmethod
10) def m2(cls):
11) cls.d=40
12) del Test.c
13) @staticmethod
14) def m3():
15) Test.e=50
16) del Test.d
17) print(Test.__dict__)
18) t=Test()
19) print(Test.__dict__)
20) t.m1()
21) print(Test.__dict__)
22) Test.m2()
23) print(Test.__dict__)
24) Test.m3()
25) print(Test.__dict__)
26) Test.f=60
27) print(Test.__dict__)
28) del Test.e
29) print(Test.__dict__)
****
Note: By using object reference variable/self we can read static variables, but we
cannot modify
or delete.
If we are trying to modify, then a new instance variable will be added to that
particular object.
t1.a = 70
If we are trying to delete then we will get error.
Example:
1) class Test:
2) a=10
3)
4) t1=Test()
5) del t1.a ===>AttributeError: a
We can modify or delete static variables only by using classname or cls variable.
1) import sys
2) class Customer:
3) ''''' Customer class with bank operations.. '''
4) bankname='amolBANK'
5) def __init__(self,name,balance=0.0):
6) self.name=name
7) self.balance=balance
8) def deposit(self,amt):
9) self.balance=self.balance+amt
10) print('Balance after deposit:',self.balance)
11) def withdraw(self,amt):
12) if amt>self.balance:
13) print('Insufficient Funds..cannot perform this operation')
14) sys.exit()
15) self.balance=self.balance-amt
16) print('Balance after withdraw:',self.balance)
17)
18) print('Welcome to',Customer.bankname)
19) name=input('Enter Your Name:')
20) c=Customer(name)
21) while True:
22) print('d-Deposit \nw-Withdraw \ne-exit')
23) option=input('Choose your option:')
24) if option=='d' or option=='D':
25) amt=float(input('Enter amount:'))
26) c.deposit(amt)
27) elif option=='w' or option=='W':
28) amt=float(input('Enter amount:'))
29) c.withdraw(amt)
30) elif option=='e' or option=='E':
31) print('Thanks for Banking')
32) sys.exit()
33) else:
34) print('Invalid option..Plz choose valid option')
Local variables:
Sometimes to meet temporary requirements of programmer,we can declare variables
inside a
method directly,such type of variables are called local variable or temporary
variables.
Local variables will be created at the time of method execution and destroyed once
method
completes.
Local variables of a method cannot be accessed from outside of method.
Example:
1) class Test:
2) def m1(self):
3) a=1000
4) print(a)
5) def m2(self):
6) b=2000
7) print(b)
8) t=Test()
9) t.m1()
10) t.m2()
Output
1000
2000
Example 2:
1) class Test:
2) def m1(self):
3) a=1000
4) print(a)
5) def m2(self):
6) b=2000
7) print(a) #NameError: name 'a' is not defined
8) print(b)
9) t=Test()
10) t.m1()
11) t.m2()
Types of Methods:
Inside Python class 3 types of methods are allowed
1. Instance Methods
2. Class Methods
3. Static Methods
1. Instance Methods:
Inside method implementation if we are using instance variables then such type of
methods are
called instance methods.
Inside instance method declaration,we have to pass self variable.
def m1(self):
By using self variable inside method we can able to access instance variables.
Within the class we can call instance method by using self variable and from
outside of the class
we can call by using object reference.
1) class Student:
2) def __init__(self,name,marks):
3) self.name=name
4) self.marks=marks
5) def display(self):
6) print('Hi',self.name)
7) print('Your Marks are:',self.marks)
8) def grade(self):
9) if self.marks>=60:
10) print('You got First Grade')
11) elif self.marks>=50:
12) print('Yout got Second Grade')
13) elif self.marks>=35:
14) print('You got Third Grade')
15) else:
16) print('You are Failed')
17) n=int(input('Enter number of students:'))
18) for i in range(n):
19) name=input('Enter Name:')
20) marks=int(input('Enter Marks:'))
21) s= Student(name,marks)
22) s.display()
23) s.grade()
24) print()
ouput:
D:\amol_classes>py test.py
Enter number of students:2
Enter Name:amol
Enter Marks:90
Hi amol
Your Marks are: 90
You got First Grade
Enter Name:Ravi
Enter Marks:12
Hi Ravi
Your Marks are: 12
You are Failed
Setter and Getter Methods:
We can set and get the values of instance variables by using getter and setter
methods.
Setter Method:
setter methods can be used to set values to the instance variables. setter methods
also known as
mutator methods.
syntax:
def setVariable(self,variable):
self.variable=variable
Example:
def setName(self,name):
self.name=name
Getter Method:
Getter methods can be used to get values of the instance variables. Getter methods
also known as
accessor methods.
syntax:
def getVariable(self):
return self.variable

Example:
def getName(self):
return self.name
Demo Program:
1) class Student:
2) def setName(self,name):
3) self.name=name
4)
5) def getName(self):
6) return self.name
7)
8) def setMarks(self,marks):
9) self.marks=marks
10)
11) def getMarks(self):
12) return self.marks
13)
14) n=int(input('Enter number of students:'))
15) for i in range(n):
16) s=Student()
17) name=input('Enter Name:')
18) s.setName(name)
19) marks=int(input('Enter Marks:'))
20) s.setMarks(marks)
21)
22) print('Hi',s.getName())
23) print('Your Marks are:',s.getMarks())
24) print()
output:
D:\python_classes>py test.py
Enter number of students:2
Enter Name:amol
Enter Marks:100
Hi amol
Your Marks are: 100
Enter Name:Ravi
Enter Marks:80
Hi Ravi
Your Marks are: 80
2. Class Methods:
Inside method implementation if we are using only class variables (static
variables), then such type
of methods we should declare as class method.
We can declare class method explicitly by using @classmethod decorator.
For class method we should provide cls variable at the time of declaration
We can call classmethod by using classname or object reference variable.
Demo Program:
1) class Animal:
2) legs=4
3) @classmethod
4) def walk(cls,name):
5) print('{} walks with {} legs...'.format(name,cls.legs))
6) Animal.walk('Dog')
7) Animal.walk('Cat')
Output
D:\python_classes>py test.py
Dog walks with 4 legs...
Cat walks with 4 legs...
Program to track the number of objects created for a class:
1) class Test:
2) count=0
3) def __init__(self):
4) Test.count =Test.count+1
5) @classmethod
6) def noOfObjects(cls):
7) print('The number of objects created for test class:',cls.count)
8)
9) t1=Test()
10) t2=Test()
11) Test.noOfObjects()
12) t3=Test()
13) t4=Test()
14) t5=Test()
15) Test.noOfObjects()
3. Static Methods:
In general these methods are general utility methods.
Inside these methods we won't use any instance or class variables.
Here we won't provide self or cls arguments at the time of declaration.
We can declare static method explicitly by using @staticmethod decorator
We can access static methods by using classname or object reference
1) class amolMath:
2)
3) @staticmethod
4) def add(x,y):
5) print('The Sum:',x+y)
6)
7) @staticmethod
8) def product(x,y):
9) print('The Product:',x*y)
10)
11) @staticmethod
12) def average(x,y):
13) print('The average:',(x+y)/2)
14)
15) amolMath.add(10,20)
16) amolMath.product(10,20)
17) amolMath.average(10,20)
Output
The Sum: 30
The Product: 200
The average: 15.0
Note: In general we can use only instance and static methods.Inside static method
we can access
class level variables by using class name.
class methods are most rarely used methods in python.
Passing members of one class to another class:
We can access members of one class inside another class.
1) class Employee:
2) def __init__(self,eno,ename,esal):
3) self.eno=eno
4) self.ename=ename
5) self.esal=esal
6) def display(self):
7) print('Employee Number:',self.eno)
8) print('Employee Name:',self.ename)
9) print('Employee Salary:',self.esal)
10) class Test:
11) def modify(emp):
12) emp.esal=emp.esal+10000
13) emp.display()
14) e=Employee(100,'amol',10000)
15) Test.modify(e)
Output
D:\python_classes>py test.py
Employee Number: 100
Employee Name: amol
Employee Salary: 20000
In the above application, Employee class members are available to Test class.
Inner classes:
Sometimes we can declare a class inside another class,such type of classes are
called inner classes.
Without existing one type of object if there is no chance of existing another type
of object,then we
should go for inner classes.
Example: Without existing Car object there is no chance of existing Engine object.
Hence Engine
class should be part of Car class.
class Car:
.....
class Engine:
......
Example: Without existing university object there is no chance of existing
Department object
class University:
.....
class Department:
......
eg3:
Without existing Human there is no chance of existin Head. Hence Head should be
part of Human.
class Human:
class Head:
Note: Without existing outer class object there is no chance of existing inner
class object. Hence
inner class object is always associated with outer class object.
Demo Program-1:
1) class Outer:
2) def __init__(self):
3) print("outer class object creation")
4) class Inner:
5) def __init__(self):
6) print("inner class object creation")
7) def m1(self):
8) print("inner class method")
9) o=Outer()
10) i=o.Inner()
11) i.m1()
Output
outer class object creation
inner class object creation
inner class method
Note: The following are various possible syntaxes for calling inner class method
1.
o=Outer()
i=o.Inner()
i.m1()
2.
i=Outer().Inner()
i.m1()
3. Outer().Inner().m1()
Demo Program-2:
1) class Person:
2) def __init__(self):
3) self.name='amol'
4) self.db=self.Dob()
5) def display(self):
6) print('Name:',self.name)
7) class Dob:
8) def __init__(self):
9) self.dd=10
10) self.mm=5
11) self.yy=1947
12) def display(self):
13) print('Dob={}/{}/{}'.format(self.dd,self.mm,self.yy))
14) p=Person()
15) p.display()
16) x=p.db
17) x.display()
Output
Name: amol
Dob=10/5/1947
Demo Program-3:
Inside a class we can declare any number of inner classes.
1) class Human:
2)
3) def __init__(self):
4) self.name = 'Sunny'
5) self.head = self.Head()
6) self.brain = self.Brain()
7) def display(self):
8) print("Hello..",self.name)
9)
10) class Head:
11) def talk(self):
12) print('Talking...')
13)
14) class Brain:
15) def think(self):
16) print('Thinking...')
17)
18) h=Human()
19) h.display()
20) h.head.talk()
21) h.brain.think()
Output
Hello.. Sunny
Talking...
Thinking...
Garbage Collection:
In old languages like C++, programmer is responsible for both creation and
destruction of
objects.Usually programmer taking very much care while creating object, but
neglecting
destruction of useless objects. Because of his neglectance, total memory can be
filled with useless
objects which creates memory problems and total application will be down with Out
of memory
error.
But in Python, We have some assistant which is always running in the background to
destroy
useless objects.Because this assistant the chance of failing Python program with
memory
problems is very less. This assistant is nothing but Garbage Collector.
Hence the main objective of Garbage Collector is to destroy useless objects.
If an object does not have any reference variable then that object eligible for
Garbage Collection.
How to enable and disable Garbage Collector in our program:
By default Gargbage collector is enabled, but we can disable based on our
requirement. In this
context we can use the following functions of gc module.
1. gc.isenabled()
Returns True if GC enabled
2. gc.disable()
To disable GC explicitly
3. gc.enable()
To enable GC explicitly
Example:
1) import gc
2) print(gc.isenabled())
3) gc.disable()
4) print(gc.isenabled())
5) gc.enable()
6) print(gc.isenabled())
Output
True
False
True
Destructors:
Destructor is a special method and the name should be __del__
Just before destroying an object Garbage Collector always calls destructor to
perform clean up
activities (Resource deallocation activities like close database connection etc).
Once destructor execution completed then Garbage Collector automatically destroys
that object.
Note: The job of destructor is not to destroy object and it is just to perform
clean up activities.
Example:
1) import time
2) class Test:
3) def __init__(self):
4) print("Object Initialization...")
5) def __del__(self):
6) print("Fulfilling Last Wish and performing clean up activities...")
7)
8) t1=Test()
9) t1=None
10) time.sleep(5)
11) print("End of application")
Output
Object Initialization...
Fulfilling Last Wish and performing clean up activities...
End of application
Note:
If the object does not contain any reference variable then only it is eligible fo
GC. ie if the
reference count is zero then only object eligible for GC
Example:
1) import time
2) class Test:
3) def __init__(self):
4) print("Constructor Execution...")
5) def __del__(self):
6) print("Destructor Execution...")
7)
8) t1=Test()
9) t2=t1
10) t3=t2
11) del t1
12) time.sleep(5)
13) print("object not yet destroyed after deleting t1")
14) del t2
15) time.sleep(5)
16) print("object not yet destroyed even after deleting t2")
17) print("I am trying to delete last reference variable...")
18) del t3
Example:
1) import time
2) class Test:
3) def __init__(self):
4) print("Constructor Execution...")
5) def __del__(self):
6) print("Destructor Execution...")
7)
8) list=[Test(),Test(),Test()]
9) del list
10) time.sleep(5)
11) print("End of application")
Output
Constructor Execution...
Constructor Execution...
Constructor Execution...
Destructor Execution...
Destructor Execution...
Destructor Execution...
End of application
How to find the number of references of an object:
sys module contains getrefcount() function for this purpose.
sys.getrefcount(objectreference)
Example:
1) import sys
2) class Test:
3) pass
4) t1=Test()
5) t2=t1
6) t3=t1
7) t4=t1
8) print(sys.getrefcount(t1))
Output 5
Note: For every object, Python internally maintains one default reference variable
self.