Python Syntax for Classes and Objects 

In this section, we will review the Python classes and objects that are related to clarify the coding syntax used in the Mind Map example. As we mentioned previously, you don't have to worry about syntax and can focus your introduction on images, diagrams, or a timeline. But if you would like to look at the details of what a potential CSInstructor class would look like, and how methods (functions) and properties (variables are used), we included some code snippets below.

Python is object-oriented, it uses objects and classes to organize code:

• classes: blueprints for creating objects; they define attributes and methods
• object: instance of a class; a specific item created from the blueprint

Classes have some pre-defined methods that we can override. Below are the typical behaviors for two of these functions along with the special keyword self:

__init__  constructor method; is called when an object is created; it is used to initialize attributes of the object

__str__  string method; it is called when an object is printed; returns a representation of the object as a string

self: special keyword that refers to the current object

Here is a possible implementation of the CSInstructor class.

class CSInstructor:
    def __init__(self, name): 
        self.name = name
 
    def __str__(self):
        output = "Name: "+ self.name + "\n"
        output += "family info, number of kids: "+ str(self.numberKids) 
        return output

    def set_familyInfo(self, numberKids):
        self.numberKids = numberKids 

# creating an instance of the class
me = CSInstructor("CS Learner")
me.set_familyInfo(2) # calling a method 
print(me) # printing the object will use the __str__ method 

You may experiment with the code above and practice with creating your own instances of the class and adding your print statements in the code embed below.  

    def set_thingsILove(self, item1, BBQ = True):
        self.lovesBest = item1
        self.loveBBQ = BBQ
  
    def set_stateHistory(self, states):
        self.statesLivedIn = states

# the above methods can be used on an instance as shown below   
me.set_thingsILove("the beach", False)
me.set_stateHistory(["Michigan", "Texas"])