Python classes self.variables

Question

I have started learning python classes some time ago, and there is something that I do not understand when it comes to usage of self.variables inside of a class. I googled, but couldn't find the answer. I am not a programmer, just a python hobbyist. Here is an example of a simple class, with two ways of defining it:

1)first way:

class Testclass:
    def __init__(self, a,b,c):
        self.a = a
        self.b = b
        self.c = c
    def firstMethod(self):
        self.d = self.a + 1
        self.e = self.b + 2
    def secondMethod(self):
        self.f = self.c + 3
    def addMethod(self):
        return self.d + self.e + self.f

myclass = Testclass(10,20,30)
myclass.firstMethod()
myclass.secondMethod()
addition = myclass.addMethod()

2)second way:

class Testclass:
    def __init__(self, a,b,c):
        self.a = a
        self.b = b
        self.c = c
    def firstMethod(self):
        d = self.a + 1
        e = self.b + 2
        return d,e
    def secondMethod(self):
        f = self.c + 3
        return f
    def addMethod(self, d, e, f):
        return d+e+f

myclass = Testclass(10,20,30)
d, e = myclass.firstMethod()
f= myclass.secondMethod()
addition = myclass.addMethod(d,e,f)

What confuses me is which of these two is valid? Is it better to always define the variables inside the methods (the variables we expect to use later) as self.variables (which would make them global inside of class) and then just call them inside some other method of that class (that would be the 1st way in upper code)? Or is it better not to define variables inside methods as self.variables, but simply as regular variables, then return at the end of the method. And then "reimport" them back into some other method as its arguments (that would be 2nd way in upper code)?

EDIT: just to make it clear, I do not want to define the self.d, self.e, self.f or d,e,f variables under the init method. I want to define them at some other methods like showed in the upper code. Sorry for not mentioning that.

Answer 1

Both are valid approaches. Which one is right completely depends on the situation.

E.g.

• Where you are 'really' getting the values of a, b, c from
• Do you want/need to use them multiple times
• Do you want/need to use them within other methods of the class
• What does the class represent
• Are a b and c really 'fixed' attributes of the class, or do they depend on external factors?

In the example you give in the comment below:

Let's say that a,b,c depend on some outer variables (for example a = d+10, b = e+20, c = f+30, where d,e,f are supplied when instantiating a class: myclass = Testclass("hello",d,e,f)). Yes, let's say I want to use a,b,c (or self.a,self.b,self.c) variables within other methods of the class too.

So in that case, the 'right' approach depends mainly on whether you expect a, b, c to change during the life of the class instance. For example, if you have a class where hte attributes (a,b,c) will never or rarely change, but you use the derived attribures (d,e,f) heavily, then it makes sense to calculate them once and store them. Here's an example:

class Tiger(object):
    def __init__(self, num_stripes):
        self.num_stripes = num_stripes
        self.num_black_stripes = self.get_black_stripes()
        self.num_orange_stripes = self.get_orange_stripes()
    def get_black_stripes(self):
        return self.num_stripes / 2
    def get_orange_stripes(self):
        return self.num_stripes / 2

big_tiger = Tiger(num_stripes=200)
little_tiger = Tiger(num_stripes=30)

# Now we can do logic without having to keep re-calculating values
if big_tiger.num_black_stripes > little_tiger.num_orange_stripes:
    print "Big tiger has more black stripes than little tiger has orange"

This works well because each individual tiger has a fixed number of stripes. If we change the example to use a class for which instances will change often, then out approach changes too:

class BankAccount(object):
    def __init__(self, customer_name, balance):
        self.customer_name = customer_name
        self.balance = balance
    def get_interest(self):
        return self.balance / 100

my_savings = BankAccount("Tom", 500)
print "I would get %d interest now" % my_savings.get_interest()
# Deposit some money
my_savings.balance += 100
print "I added more money, my interest changed to %d" % my_savings.get_interest()

So in this (somewhat contrived) example, a bank account balance changes frequently - therefore there is no value in storing interest in a self.interest variable - every time balance changes, the interest amount will change too. Therefore it makes sense to calculate it every time we need to use it.

There are a number of more complex approaches you can take to get some benefit from both of these. For example, you can make your program 'know' that interest is linked to balance and then it will temporarily remember the interest value until the balance changes (this is a form of caching - we use more memory but save some CPU/computation).

Unrelated to original question

A note about how you declare your classes. If you're using Python 2, it's good practice to make your own classes inherit from python's built in object class:

class Testclass(object):
    def __init__(self, printHello):

Ref NewClassVsClassicClass - Python Wiki: Python 3 uses there new-style classes by default, so you don't need to explicitly inherit from object if using py3.

Answer 2

EDITED:

If you want to preserve the values inside the object after perform addMethod, for exmaple, if you want call addMethod again. then use the first way. If you just want to use some internal values of the class to perform the addMethod, use the second way.

Answer 3

You really can't draw any conclusions on this sort of question in the absence of a concrete and meaningful example, because it's going to depend on the facts and circumstances of what you're trying to do.

That being said, in your first example, firstMethod() and secondMethod() are just superfluous. They serve no purpose at all other than to compute values that addMethod() uses. Worse, to make addMethod() function, the user has to first make two inexplicable and apparently unrelated calls to firstMethod() and secondMethod(), which is unquestionably bad design. If those two methods actually did something meaningful it might make sense (but probably doesn't) but in the absence of a real example it's just bad.

You could replace the first example by:

class Testclass:
    def __init__(self, a,b,c):
        self.a = a
        self.b = b
        self.c = c

    def addMethod(self):
        return self.a + self.b + self.c + 6

myclass = Testclass(10,20,30)
addition = myclass.addMethod()

The second example is similar, except firstMethod() and secondMethod() actually do something, since they return values. If there was some reason you'd want these values separately for some reason other than passing them to addMethod(), then again, it might make sense. If there wasn't, then again you could define addMethod() as I just did, and dispense with those two additional functions altogether, and there wouldn't be any difference between the two examples.

But this is all very unsatisfactory in the absence of a concrete example. Right now all we can really say is that it's a slightly silly class.

In general, objects in the OOP sense are conglomerates of data (instance variables) and behavior (methods). If a method doesn't access instance variables - or doesn't need to - then it generally should be a standalone function, and not be in a class at all. Once in a while it will make sense to have a class or static method that doesn't access instance variables, but in general you should err towards preferring standalone functions.