Self & __init__() (Constructors) | Python Tutorials For Absolute Beginners In
Hindi #55
In this tutorial, we will be discussing methods and
constructors in detail. If you are familiar with any other
object-oriented programming language, then the concept
will be easy for you to grasp. So, let us begin with the
Method.
Method:
A method is just like a function, with a def keyword and a
single parameter in which the name of the object has to
be passed. The purpose of the method is to show all the
details related to the object in a single go. We choose
variables that we want the method to take but do not have
to pass all of them as parameters. Instead, we have to set
the parameters we want to include in the method during
its creation. Using methods make the process simpler and
a lot faster.
Self keyword:
The self keyword is used in the method to refer to the
instance of the current class we are using. The self
keyword is passed as a parameter explicitly every time we
define a method.
def read_number(self):
print(self.num)
__init__ method:-
"__init__" is also called as a constructor in object-oriented
terminology. Whereas a constructor is defined as:
"Constructor in Python is used to assign values to the
variables or data members of a class when an object is
created."
Python treats the constructor differently as compared to
C++ and Java. The constructor is a method with a def
keyword and parameters, but the purpose of a constructor
is to assign values to the instance variables of different
objects. We can give the values by accessing each of the
variables one by one, but in the case of the constructor,
we pass all the values directly as parameters. Self
keyword is used to assign value to a constructor too.
As there can be only one constructor for a specific class,
so the name of the constructor is a constant, i.e., __init__.
We declare a constructor in Python using def keyword,
def __init__(self):
# body of the constructor
Here,
The def keyword is used to define the function.
The first argument refers to the current object which
binds the instance to the init() method.
In init() method ,arguments are optional. Constructors
can be defined with any number of arguments or with
no arguments.
For Example:
class Person:
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age
p1 = Person("John", 36)
print(p1.name)
#Output: John
Types of constructors in Python
We have two types of constructors in Python.
1. The default constructor is the one that does not take
any arguments.
2. Constructor with parameters is known as
parameterized constructor.
Method vs. Function:
Methods and functions are very similar, yet there are
some differences:
Methods are explicitly for Object-Oriented
programming.
The method can only be used by the object that it is
called for. In simple terms, for a method, the
parameter must be an object.
The method can only access the data that is
initialized in the class the method is formed in.
Code as described/written in the video
class Employee:
no_of_leaves = 8
def __init__(self, aname, asalary, arole):
self.name = aname
self.salary = asalary
self.role = arole
def printdetails(self):
return f"The Name is {self.name}. Salary is {self.salary} and role is {self.role}"
harry = Employee("Harry", 255, "Instructor")
# rohan = Employee()
# harry.name = "Harry"
# harry.salary = 455
# harry.role = "Instructor"
#
# rohan.name = "Rohan"
# rohan.salary = 4554
# rohan.role = "Student"
print(harry.salary)
