method objects vs function objects , Python class instances vs class

Ankur Agarwal picture Ankur Agarwal · Jan 12, 2013 · Viewed 14.5k times · Source

I am trying to verify the difference between instance attributes and class attributes as laid out by the Python tutorial release 2.7.3 dated Nov 01, 2012, chapter 9: Classes, Page 66 last line (source):

Valid method names of an instance object depend on its class. By definition, all attributes of a class that are function objects define corresponding methods of its instances. So in our example, x.f is a valid method reference, since MyClass.f is a function, but x.i is not, since MyClass.i is not. But x.f is not the same thing as MyClass.f — it is a method object, not a function object.

I have this:

class MyClass:    
   """A simple example class"""    
   i = 12345   
   def f():    
      return 'hello world'

Then I do this:

>>> x = MyClass()
>>> x.f
<bound method MyClass.f of <__main__.MyClass instance at 0x02BB8968>>
>>> MyClass.f
<unbound method MyClass.f>
>>> type(MyClass.f)
<type 'instancemethod'>
>>> type(x.f)
<type 'instancemethod'>

Note that the type of both x.f and MyClass.f is instancemethod. There is no difference in types but the tutorial says otherwise. Can someone please clarify?

Answer

Gareth Latty picture Gareth Latty · Jan 13, 2013

Bound vs Unbound Methods - an explanation.

... or why Python has the behaviour you point out.

So, first off, a note that this is different in 3.x. In 3.x, you will get MyClass.f being a function, and x.f as a method - as expected. This behaviour is essentially a poor design decision that has later been changed.

The reason for this is that Python has the concept of a method that is different to most languages, which is essentially a function with the first argument pre-filled as the instance (self). This pre-filling makes a bound method.

>>> x.foo
<bound method MyClass.foo of <__main__.MyClass instance at 0x1004989e0>>

In Python 2.x and before, it was reasoned that a method not attached to an instance would be an unbound method, which was a function with the restriction that the first argument (self), must be an instance of the object. This is then ready to be bound to an instance and become a bound method.

>>> MyClass.foo
<unbound method MyClass.foo>

With time, it became clear an unbound method is really just a function with this odd restriction that didn't really matter (that self must be of the 'correct' type), so they were removed from the language (in 3.x). This is essentially duck-typing self, which suits the language.

Python 3.3.0 (default, Dec  4 2012, 00:30:24) 
>>> x.foo
<bound method MyClass.foo of <__main__.MyClass object at 0x100858ed0>>
>>> MyClass.foo
<function MyClass.foo at 0x10084f9e0>

Further reading.

This is a (condensed, from memory) explanation which can be read in full from Python creator Guido van Rossum's own mouth in his 'History of Python' series.