Python __init__ and self what do they do?

Question

I'm learning the Python programming language and I've came across something I don't fully understand.

In a method like:

def method(self, blah):
    def __init__(?):
        ....
    ....

What does self do? What is it meant to be? Is it mandatory?

What does the __init__ method do? Why is it necessary? (etc.)

I think they might be OOP constructs, but I don't know very much.

Answer 1

# Source: Class and Instance Variables
# https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/classes.html#class-and-instance-variables

class MyClass(object):
    # class variable
    my_CLS_var = 10

    # sets "init'ial" state to objects/instances, use self argument
    def __init__(self):
        # self usage => instance variable (per object)
        self.my_OBJ_var = 15

        # also possible, class name is used => init class variable
        MyClass.my_CLS_var = 20


def run_example_func():
    # PRINTS    10    (class variable)
    print MyClass.my_CLS_var

    # executes __init__ for obj1 instance
    # NOTE: __init__ changes class variable above
    obj1 = MyClass()

    # PRINTS    15    (instance variable)
    print obj1.my_OBJ_var

    # PRINTS    20    (class variable, changed value)
    print MyClass.my_CLS_var


run_example_func()

Answer 2

__init__ does act like a constructor. You'll need to pass "self" to any class functions as the first argument if you want them to behave as non-static methods. "self" are instance variables for your class.

Answer 3

Yep, you are right, these are oop constructs.

__init__ is the constructor for a class. The self parameter refers to the instance of the object (like this in C++).

class Point:
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        self._x = x
        self._y = y

The __init__ method gets called when memory for the object is allocated:

x = Point(1,2)

It is important to use the self parameter inside an object's method if you want to persist the value with the object. If, for instance, you implement the __init__ method like this:

class Point:
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        _x = x
        _y = y

Your x and y parameters would be stored in variables on the stack and would be discarded when the init method goes out of scope. Setting those variables as self._x and self._y sets those variables as members of the Point object (accessible for the lifetime of the object).

Answer 4

Try out this code. Hope it helps many C programmers like me to Learn Py.

#! /usr/bin/python2

class Person:

    '''Doc - Inside Class '''

    def __init__(self, name):
        '''Doc - __init__ Constructor'''
        self.n_name = name        

    def show(self, n1, n2):
        '''Doc - Inside Show'''
        print self.n_name
        print 'Sum = ', (n1 + n2)

    def __del__(self):
        print 'Destructor Deleting object - ', self.n_name

p=Person('Jay')
p.show(2, 3)
print p.__doc__
print p.__init__.__doc__
print p.show.__doc__

Output:

Jay

Sum = 5

Doc - Inside Class

Doc - __init__ Constructor

Doc - Inside Show

Destructor Deleting object - Jay

Answer 5

Basically, you need to use the 'self' keyword when using a variable in multiple functions within the same class. As for init, it's used to setup default values incase no other functions from within that class are called.

Answer 6

Class objects support two kinds of operations: attribute references and instantiation

Attribute references use the standard syntax used for all attribute references in Python: obj.name. Valid attribute names are all the names that were in the class’s namespace when the class object was created. So, if the class definition looked like this:

class MyClass:
    """A simple example class"""
    i = 12345

    def f(self):
        return 'hello world'

then MyClass.i and MyClass.f are valid attribute references, returning an integer and a function object, respectively. Class attributes can also be assigned to, so you can change the value of MyClass.i by assignment. __doc__ is also a valid attribute, returning the docstring belonging to the class: "A simple example class".

Class instantiation uses function notation. Just pretend that the class object is a parameterless function that returns a new instance of the class. For example:

x = MyClass()

The instantiation operation (“calling” a class object) creates an empty object. Many classes like to create objects with instances customized to a specific initial state. Therefore a class may define a special method named __init__(), like this:

def __init__(self):
    self.data = []

When a class defines an __init__() method, class instantiation automatically invokes __init__() for the newly-created class instance. So in this example, a new, initialized instance can be obtained by:

x = MyClass()

Of course, the __init__() method may have arguments for greater flexibility. In that case, arguments given to the class instantiation operator are passed on to __init__(). For example,

class Complex:
    def __init__(self, realpart, imagpart):
        self.r = realpart
        self.i = imagpart

x = Complex(3.0, -4.5)
x.r, x.i

Taken from official documentation which helped me the most in the end.

---

Here is my example

class Bill():
    def __init__(self,apples,figs,dates):
        self.apples = apples
        self.figs = figs
        self.dates = dates
        self.bill = apples + figs + dates
        print ("Buy",self.apples,"apples", self.figs,"figs 
                and",self.dates,"dates. 
                Total fruitty bill is",self.bill," pieces of fruit :)")

When you create instance of class Bill:

purchase = Bill(5,6,7)

You get:

> Buy 5 apples 6 figs and 7 dates. Total fruitty bill is 18  pieces of
> fruit :)