What is the difference between class and instance attributes?

python attributes member-variables
Dan Homerick picture Dan Homerick · Oct 16, 2008 · Viewed 66k times · Source

Is there any meaningful distinction between:

class A(object):
    foo = 5   # some default value

vs.

class B(object):
    def __init__(self, foo=5):
        self.foo = foo

If you're creating a lot of instances, is there any difference in performance or space requirements for the two styles? When you read the code, do you consider the meaning of the two styles to be significantly different?

Answer

Alex Coventry picture Alex Coventry · Oct 16, 2008

Beyond performance considerations, there is a significant semantic difference. In the class attribute case, there is just one object referred to. In the instance-attribute-set-at-instantiation, there can be multiple objects referred to. For instance

>>> class A: foo = []
>>> a, b = A(), A()
>>> a.foo.append(5)
>>> b.foo
[5]
>>> class A:
...  def __init__(self): self.foo = []
>>> a, b = A(), A()
>>> a.foo.append(5)
>>> b.foo    
[]

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