What is the purpose of the "self" keyword in Python class methods?
What is the purpose of the "self" keyword in Python class methods?
21626-Jun-2023
Updated on 27-Jun-2023
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What is the purpose of the "self" keyword in Python class methods?
Aryan Kumar
27-Jun-2023The
self
keyword in Python class methods is used to refer to the current instance of the class. It is required in all class methods, even if you don't explicitly use it in the code.For example, the following code defines a class called
Car
:Python
The
say_hello()
method is a class method. It takes no arguments, but it does use theself
keyword to refer to the current instance of the class. For example, if we create a new instance of theCar
class and call thesay_hello()
method, theself
keyword will refer to that particular instance of the class.Python
This code will print the following output:
Code snippet
As you can see, the
self
keyword refers to the current instance of the class, which in this case is thecar
object.The
self
keyword is also used to access the attributes and methods of the class. For example, in thesay_hello()
method, theself.make
,self.model
, andself.year
attributes are accessed using theself
keyword.The
self
keyword is a very important part of Python class methods. It is used to refer to the current instance of the class and to access the attributes and methods of the class.