Class method differences in Python: bound, unbound

Question

What is the difference between the following class methods?

Is it that one is static and the other is not?

class Test(object):
  def method_one(self):
    print "Called method_one"

  def method_two():
    print "Called method_two"

a_test = Test()
a_test.method_one()
a_test.method_two()

Answer 1

When you call a class member, Python automatically uses a reference to the object as the first parameter. The variable self actually means nothing, it's just a coding convention. You could call it gargaloo if you wanted. That said, the call to method_two would raise a TypeError, because Python is automatically trying to pass a parameter (the reference to its parent object) to a method that was defined as having no parameters.

To actually make it work, you could append this to your class definition:

method_two = staticmethod(method_two)

or you could use the @staticmethod function decorator.

Answer 2

In Python, there is a distinction between bound and unbound methods.

Basically, a call to a member function (like method_one), a bound function

a_test.method_one()

is translated to

Test.method_one(a_test)

i.e. a call to an unbound method. Because of that, a call to your version of method_two will fail with a TypeError

>>> a_test = Test() 
>>> a_test.method_two()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: method_two() takes no arguments (1 given) 

You can change the behavior of a method using a decorator

class Test(object):
    def method_one(self):
        print "Called method_one"

    @staticmethod
    def method_two():
        print "Called method two"

The decorator tells the built-in default metaclass type (the class of a class, cf. this question) to not create bound methods for method_two.

Now, you can invoke static method both on an instance or on the class directly:

>>> a_test = Test()
>>> a_test.method_one()
Called method_one
>>> a_test.method_two()
Called method_two
>>> Test.method_two()
Called method_two

Answer 3

>>> class Class(object):
...     def __init__(self):
...         self.i = 0
...     def instance_method(self):
...         self.i += 1
...         print self.i
...     c = 0
...     @classmethod
...     def class_method(cls):
...         cls.c += 1
...         print cls.c
...     @staticmethod
...     def static_method(s):
...         s += 1
...         print s
... 
>>> a = Class()
>>> a.class_method()
1
>>> Class.class_method()    # The class shares this value across instances
2
>>> a.instance_method()
1
>>> Class.instance_method() # The class cannot use an instance method
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: unbound method instance_method() must be called with Class instance as first argument (got nothing instead)
>>> Class.instance_method(a)
2
>>> b = 0
>>> a.static_method(b)
1
>>> a.static_method(a.c) # Static method does not have direct access to 
>>>                      # class or instance properties.
3
>>> Class.c        # a.c above was passed by value and not by reference.
2
>>> a.c
2
>>> a.c = 5        # The connection between the instance
>>> Class.c        # and its class is weak as seen here.
2
>>> Class.class_method()
3
>>> a.c
5

Answer 4

The second one won't work because when you call it like that python internally tries to call it with the a_test instance as the first argument, but your method_two doesn't accept any arguments, so it wont work, you'll get a runtime error. If you want the equivalent of a static method you can use a class method. There's much less need for class methods in Python than static methods in languages like Java or C#. Most often the best solution is to use a method in the module, outside a class definition, those work more efficiently than class methods.