Working with the Class System in Python

In this chapter we quickly review functions and data structures, as they are building blocks of object-oriented programming. Then we transition into the conceptual definition of objects and classes.

Here, we dive deep into the internals of classes, instantiation of objects, the initialization method, instance variables, class variables, overriding class variables, and methods.

We create fancier classes with sophisticated methods such as importing datasets, getting descriptive statistics, and renaming columns. Also, we cover best practices for creating and documenting classes according to PEP-8.

In this chapter we cover inheritance, which is when we create a class that employs (or 'inherits') all class variables and methods from a 'parent' class. We also cover polymorphism, which is when multiple classes inherit from a single class. Finally, we cover composition, which is when classes employ specific class functionality from other classes without necessarily inheriting from them.