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Python Basic Object-Oriented Python Welcome to OOP Creating a Class

Understanding Class, object and Instance

So in the video.

she passed this code

below is the class created.

# class Car():
#     pass

below is supposedly creating an object with class. the created object is my_car. this process is called instatiation.

#my_car = Car()

Does this mean, the variable "my_car" is the instance? as well as an object? is the variable an object also?

I am confused.

1 Answer

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

Hey Regina Ackah, good question.

A class defined using

class Car:
    pass

may be referred to as Car. When parens are added, as in, Car(), this causes the creation of an instance of the class. This object is usually assigned to a label, such as my_car that points to the new created instance.

So "variables" are basically labels that point to objects. This is how objects are passed into functions. The label is passed to a function that, in turn, points it's local parameter label to the same object.

So my_car is the label (aka variable) that points to an instance of Car.

Going a bit further, once the class Car has been defined, it is the label Car that is pointed to the class.

Whoa, what's with all these labels? Also a good question. These label references to objects are all organized into namespaces, so that the scope of where they have meaning is well defined.

Post back if you have more questions. Good luck!

So I had to sleep on it and rewatch the videos to finally understand.

I get it perfectly now. your explanation helped a lot!!!!