Tag: What is the difference between class and object and instance in Python?

An instance, in object-oriented programming (OOP), is a specific realization of any object . … In languages that create objects from classes, an object is an instantiation of a class. That is, it is a member of a given class that has specified values rather than variables.

Class variables can only be assigned when a class has been defined. Instance variables, on the other hand, can be assigned or changed at any time . Both class variables and instance variables store a value in a program, just like any other Python variable.

A class is a blueprint which you use to create objects. An object is an instance of a class – it’s a concrete ‘thing’ that you made using a specific class. So, ‘object’ and ‘instance’ are the same thing, but the word ‘instance’ indicates the relationship of an object to its class.

Instance − An individual object of a certain class . An object obj that belongs to a class Circle, for example, is an instance of the class Circle. Instantiation − The creation of an instance of a class. Method − A special kind of function that is defined in a class definition.