Python Classes and

Objects
A Basic Introduction

Coming up: Topics 1

 Topics
•  Objects and Classes
•  Abstraction
•  Encapsulation
•  Messages
 What are objects
•  An object is a datatype that stores data, but
ALSO has operations defined to act on the
data. It knows stuff and can do stuff.

•  Generally represent:
–  tangible entities (e.g., student, airline ticket, etc.)
–  intangible entities (e.g., data stream)

•  Interactions between objects define the

system operation (through message passing)
 What are Objects
•  A Circle drawn on the screen:

•  Has attributes (knows stuff):

–  radius, center, color

•  Has methods (can do stuff):

–  move
–  change color
 Design of Circle object
•  A Circle object:
–  center, which remembers the center point of the
circle,
–  radius, which stores the length of the circle’s
radius.
–  color, which stores the color
•  The draw method examines the center and
radius to decide which pixels in a window
should be colored.
•  The move method sets the center to another
location, and redraws the circle
 Design of Circle
•  All objects are said to be an instance of
some class. The class of an object
determines which attributes the object
will have.

•  A class is a description of what its

instances will know and do.
 Circle: classes and objects
Classes are blueprints Objects are instantiations of
or directions on how to the class (attributes are set)
create an object
Circle Class

Attributes:
- location, radius,color

Methods:
- draw, move

3 circle objects are shown (each has

different attribute values)
 Circle Class
class Circle(object):
Beginning of the class definition
def __init__(self, center, radius): The constructor. This is called when
self.center = center
self.radius = radius
someone creates a new Circle, these
assignments create attributes.
def draw(self, canvas):
rad = self.radius
x1 = self.center[0]-rad
y1 = self.center[1]-rad A method that uses attributes to draw the
x2 = self.center[0]+rad circle
y2 = self.center[1]+rad
canvas.create_oval(x1, y1, x2, y2, fill='green')

def move(self, x, y):

A method that sets the center to a new
self.center = [x, y]
location and then redraws it

objects/CircleModule.py
 Constructors
•  The objcet’s constructor method is named __init__

•  The primary duty of the constructor is to set the state of the

object’s attributes (instance variables)

•  Constructors may have default parameters

•  Calling an object’s constructor (via the class name) is a

signal to the interpreter to create (instantiate) a new object
of the data type of the class
–  myCircle = Circle([10,30], 20) # Never pass “self”, it’s automatic
 Creating a Circle
myCircle = Circle([10,30], 20)

•  This statement creates a new Circle

object and stores a reference to it in the
variable myCircle.
•  The parameters to the constructor are
used to initialize some of the instance
variables (center and radius) inside
myCircle.
 Creating a Circle
myCircle = Circle([10,30], 20)

•  Once the object has been created, it

can be manipulated by calling on its
methods:
myCircle.draw(canvas)
myCircle.move(x,y)
 Objects and Classes
•  myCircle = Circle([10,30], 20)
•  myOtherCircle = Circle([4,60], 10)

•  myCircle and myOtherCircle are objects or instances of the

Class Circle

•  The circle class defines what a circle knows (attributes) and

what it does (methods)… but to have a circle, you need to
construct an object from that class definition

•  Similar to a “list”. Python defines what a list is, and can do

(slicing, indexing, length(…), etc… but until you create one, you
don’t really have one
 Using the Circle
•  from CircleModule import *
myCircle = Circle([10,30], 20)
print
"CENTER :"+str(myCircle.center)
>>> CENTER :(10, 30)

To get an instance variable from an

object, use: <<object>>.variable
What happens if the instance variable
doesn’t exist?
 Using Instance Variables

myCircle = Circle([10,30], 20)

print "CENTER :"+str(circle.carl)
>>> AttributeError: Circle
instance has no attribute
’carl’
 Using Instance Variables
myCircle.bob = 234
What happens if you set an instance
variable that doesn’t exist?

Think: What happens if you assign ANY

variable in python that doesn’t exist?
john = 234
Python automatically creates a new variable if it doesn’t exist.
For instance variables this works the same… if you assign an
instance variable that doesn’t exist, Python just creates it…
Bad practice though… create all instance variables in the
constructor!
 Summary: Using instance variables

•  Creating new instance variables just

means assigning them a value:
–  self.bob = 234 # In constructor

•  Using instance variables is done through

dot notation:
–  val = myCircle.bob # Outside the class definition
–  val = self.bob # Inside class methods
 Attributes / Instance Variables
•  Attributes represent the characteristics of a class. When an object is
instantiated and the values are assigned to attributes, they are then
referred to as instance variables.

•  The values of the instance variables define the state of the individual
object

•  They are referred to as instance variables because the values

assigned to an individual object (instance of a class) are unique to that
particular class

•  Attributes may be public or private (although due to their specific

implementation, they are not truly private in Python)

•  If the attributes are private, they serve to enforce the concept of

information hiding
 Using methods in Objects
•  Methods are created just like a function,
but inside a class:
class Circle:
def myFunction(self, p1, p2):
<< something >>>
def function2(self, input1=‘55’):
<<something>>

•  To use methods, call them using dot

notation:
myCircle.myFunction(actualP1, actualP2)
Note: self is automatically passed in to all methods… you never pass it
in directly!
 Messages
•  Process by which system components
interact:
–  send data to another object
–  request data from another object
–  request object to perrform some behavior
•  Implemented as methods (not called
functions).
–  Functions are procsses that are object independet
–  Methods are dependent on the state of the object
 Message Passing
•  When calling a method in another class,
OO uses the term “message passing”
you are passing messages from one
class to another

•  Don’t be confused… this is really just a

new name for calling a method or a
function
 What is ‘self’
•  Self is a reference to the current
instance. Self lets you access all the
instance variables for the specific
instance you’re working with.
Do this

–  myCircle.myFunction(actualP1, actualP2)
Not this
•  is like calling:
–  Circle.myFunction(myCircle,actualP1, actualP2)
•  “self” really gets the value of “myCircle”.. but
it happens automatically!
 Why use classes at all?
•  Classes and objects are more like the real
world. They minimize the semantic gap by
modeling the real world more closely

•  The semantic gap is the difference between

the real world and the representation in a
computer.
• 
Do you care how your TV works?
–  No… you are a user of the TV, the TV has
operations and they work. You don’t care how.
 Why use classes at all?
•  Classes and objects allow you to define
an interface to some object (it’s
operations) and then use them without
know the internals.

•  Defining classes helps modularize your

program into multiple objects that work
together, that each have a defined
purpose
 Encapsulation
•  Attributes and behaviors are enclosed
(encapsulated) within the logical boundary of the
object entity

–  In structured or procedural systems, data and code

are typically maintained as separate entities (e.g.,
modules and data files)

–  In Object Technology systems, each object contains

the data (attributes) and the code (behaviors) that
operates upon those attributes
 Abstraction
•  Encapsulation implements the concept of
abstraction:

–  details associated with object sub-components are

enclosed within the logical boundary of the object
–  user of object only “sees” the public interface of the
object, all the internal details are hidden

Note - In Python, encapsulation is merely a programming convention.

Other languages (e.g., Java) enforce the concept more rigorously.
 Abstraction

Public
Interface

User of object “sees” the

Behaviors abstract version of the
object through the public
interface defined by the
Attributes objectInterface

Encapsulation makes abstraction possible

 Abstraction in your life

?
You know the public
interface. Do you know
implementation details?
Do you care?
As long as the public interface stays the
same, you don’t care about
implementation changes
Implementing Public/Private Interfaces

Can we ENFORCE use of getters and setters? If

I design a class I would like to make sure no one
can access my instance variables directly, they
MUST use my getters and setters

•  CS211 Preview: In Java you will be able to enforce

access restrictions on your instance variables… you
can (and should) make them private so Java itself
enforces data encapsulation.

•  So… does Python support “private” instance

variables? Yes (and no)
Implementing Public/Private Interfaces

•  Python attributes and methods are public by

default.
– public attributes: any other class or function can see
and change the attribute myCircle.radius = 20
– public method: any other class or function can call
the method myCircle.method1()

•  Make things private by adding __ (two

underscores) to the beginning of the name:
–  self.__radius = 20 # Private attribute
– def __method1(): # Private method
Implementing Public/Private Interfaces

•  Private attributes can (almost) only be

accessed by methods defined in the class

•  Private methods can (almost) only be called by

other methods defined in the class

• Idea: Everything defined in the class has access

to private parts.
 Hiding your private parts (in Python)
•  You can create somewhat private parts in Python. Naming an
instance variable with an __ (two underscores) makes it private.
 Hiding your private parts (in Python)

•  Be a little sneakier then.. use __name:

Nice try, but that won’t work!

 Hiding your private parts (in Python)
•  Be super sneaky then.. use _Student__name:

Ahh… you saw my private parts… that was rude!

So, it is possible to interact with private data in Python, but it is difficult
and good programers know not to do it. Using the defined interface
methods (getters and setters) will make code more maintainable and
safer to use
 Getters and Setters (or)
Accessors and Mutators
•  These methods are a coding convetion
•  Getters/Accessors are methods that
return an attribute
–  def get_name(self):
•  Setters/Mutators are methods that set
an attribute
–  def set_name(self,newName):
 Why use getters?
•  Definition of my getter:
def getName(self):
return self.name

What if I want to store the name instead as first and last name in the class?
Well, with the getter I only have to do this:
def getName(self):
return self.firstname + self.lastname

If I had used dot notation outside the class, then all the code OUTSIDE the
class would need to be changed because the internal structure INSIDE the
class changed. Think about libraries of code… If the Python-authors change
how the Button class works, do you want to have to change YOUR code?
No! Encapsulation helps make that happen. They can change anything
inside they want, and as long as they don’t change the method signatures,
your code will work fine.

Getters help you hide the internal structure of your class!

 Setters
•  Anoter common method type are “setters”
•  def setAge(self, age):
self.age = age

Why? Same reason + one more. I want to hide the internal structure of my
Class, so I want people to go through my methods to get and set instance
variables. What if I wanted to start storing people’s ages in dog-years?
Easy with setters:
def setAge(self, age):
self.age = age / 7

More commonly, what if I want to add validation… for example, no age can
be over 200 or below 0? If people use dot notation, I cannot do it. With
setters:
def setAge(self, age):
if age > 200 or age < 0:
# show error
else:
self.age = age / 7
 Getters and Setters

•  Getters and setters are useful to provide data

encapsulation. They hide the internal structure of
your class and they should be used!
 Printing objects
>>> aStudent = Student("Karl","Johnson", 18)
>>> print aStudent
<__main__.Student object at 0x8bd70>

Doesn’t look so good! Define a special function in the class

“__str__” that is used to convert your boject to a string whenever
needed

def __str__(self):
return "Name is:"+ self.__name

Name is:KarlJohnson
•  See BouncingBall Slides.
Data Processing with Class
•  A class is useful for modeling a real-world
object with complex behavior.
•  Another common use for objects is to group
together a set of information that describes a
person or thing.
–  Eg., a company needs to keep track of information
about employees (an Employee class with
information such as employee’s name, social
security number, address, salary, etc.)
Data Processing with Class
•  Grouping information like this is often
called a record.
•  Let’s try a simple data processing
example!
•  A typical university measures courses in
terms of credit hours, and grade point
averages are calculated on a 4 point
scale where an “A” is 4 points, a “B” is
three, etc.
Data Processing with Class
•  Grade point averages are generally
computed using quality points. If a class
is worth 3 credit hours and the student
gets an “A”, then he or she earns
3(4) = 12 quality points. To calculate the
GPA, we divide the total quality points
by the number of credit hours
completed.
Data Processing with Class
•  Suppose we have a data file that
contains student grade information.
•  Each line of the file consists of a
student’s name, credit-hours, and
quality points.
Adams, Henry 127 228
Comptewell, Susan 100 400
DibbleBit, Denny 18 41.5
Jones, Jim 48.5 155
Smith, Frank 37 125.33
Data Processing with Class
•  Our job is to write a program that reads
this file to find the student with the best
GPA and print out their name, credit-
hours, and GPA.
•  The place to start? Creating a Student
class!
•  We can use a Student object to store
this information as instance variables.
 Data Processing with Class
•  class Student:
def __init__(self, name, hours, qpoints):
self.name = name
self.hours = float(hours)
self.qpoints = float(qpoints)
•  The values for hours are converted to
float to handle parameters that may be
floats, ints, or strings.
•  To create a student record:
aStudent = Student(“Adams, Henry”, 127, 228)
•  The coolest thing is that we can store all the
information about a student in a single
variable!
 Data Processing with Class
•  We need to be able to access this information, so we
need to define a set of accessor methods.
•  def getName(self):
return self.name
def getHours(self): These are commonly
return self.hours
called “getters”
def getQPoints(self):
return self.qpoints
def gpa(self):
return self.qpoints/self.hours
•  For example, to print a student’s name you could
write:
print aStudent.getName()
•  aStudent.name
Data Processing with Class
•  How can we use these tools to find the
student with the best GPA?
•  We can use an algorithm similar to
finding the max of n numbers! We could
look through the list one by one,
keeping track of the best student seen
so far!
Data Processing with Class
Pseudocode:
Get the file name from the user
Open the file for reading
Set best to be the first student
For each student s in the file
if s.gpa() > best.gpa
set best to s
Print out information about best
 Data Processing with Class
# gpa.py def main():
# Program to find student with highest GPA filename = raw_input("Enter name the grade file: ")
import string infile = open(filename, 'r')
best = makeStudent(infile.readline())
class Student: for line in infile:
s = makeStudent(line)
def __init__(self, name, hours, qpoints): if s.gpa() > best.gpa():
self.name = name best = s
self.hours = float(hours) infile.close()
self.qpoints = float(qpoints) print "The best student is:", best.getName()
print "hours:", best.getHours()
def getName(self): print "GPA:", best.gpa()
return self.name
if __name__ == '__main__':
def getHours(self): main()
return self.hours

def getQPoints(self):
return self.qpoints

def gpa(self):
return self.qpoints/self.hours

def makeStudent(infoStr):
name, hours, qpoints = string.split(infoStr,"\t")
return Student(name, hours, qpoints)
Helping other people use your classes

•  Frequently, you will need to write classes other

people will use
•  Or classes you will want to use later, but have
forgotton how

Answer: Document your class usage!

 Putting Classes in Modules
•  Sometimes we may program a class that
could useful in many other programs.
•  If you might be reusing the code again, put
it into its own module file with
documentation to describe how the class
can be used so that you won’t have to try
to figure it out in the future from looking at
the code!
 Module Documentation
•  You are already familiar with “#” to indicate
comments explaining what’s going on in a
Python file.
•  Python also has a special kind of
commenting convention called the
docstring. You can insert a plain string
literal as the first line of a module, class, or
function to document that component.
 Module Documentation
•  Why use a docstring?
–  Ordinary comments are ignored by Python
–  Docstrings are accessible in a special attribute
called __doc__.
•  Most Python library modules have extensive
docstrings. For example, if you can’t
remember how to use random:
>>> import random
>>> print random.random.__doc__
random() -> x in the interval [0, 1).
 Module Documentation
•  Docstrings are also used by the Python online
help system and by a utility called PyDoc that
automatically builds documentation for
Python modules. You could get the same
information like this:
>>> import random
>>> help(random.random)
Help on built-in function random:

random(...)
random() -> x in the interval [0, 1).
 Module Documentation
•  To see the documentation for an entire
module, try typing help(module_name)!
•  The following code for the projectile
class has docstrings.
 Module Documentation
# projectile.py

"""projectile.py
Provides a simple class for modeling the flight of projectiles."""

from math import pi, sin, cos

class Projectile:

"""Simulates the flight of simple projectiles near the earth's

surface, ignoring wind resistance. Tracking is done in two
dimensions, height (y) and distance (x)."""

def __init__(self, angle, velocity, height):

"""Create a projectile with given launch angle, initial
velocity and height."""
self.xpos = 0.0
self.ypos = height
theta = pi * angle / 180.0
self.xvel = velocity * cos(theta)
self.yvel = velocity * sin(theta)
 Module Documentation
def update(self, time):
"""Update the state of this projectile to move it time seconds
farther into its flight"""
self.xpos = self.xpos + time * self.xvel
yvel1 = self.yvel - 9.8 * time
self.ypos = self.ypos + time * (self.yvel + yvel1) / 2.0
self.yvel = yvel1

def getY(self):
"Returns the y position (height) of this projectile."
return self.ypos

def getX(self):
"Returns the x position (distance) of this projectile."
return self.xpos
 PyDoc
•  PyDoc The pydoc module automatically
generates documentation from Python
modules. The documentation can be
presented as pages of text on the
console, served to a Web browser, or
saved to HTML files.

•  pydoc –g # Launch the GUI