Python Classes

As I struggled to better understand Python classes, I took a few notes from the research I did and created this example class. Hopefully this will provide some insight for those who are new to Python as well. Please post any questions or comments.

#Classes begin with the word 'class' followed by the class name
class identity:
 # Statements or functions follow, referred to as methods.
 # Method attributes always start with 'self'
 # 'self' is a temporary placeholder for the object
 # The value of the attribute 'first' is passed into the method
    def createFirst(self,first):
  # The object's value for 'first' will be assigned based on the input
        self.first = first
    def createLast(self,last):
        self.last=last
 # The objects assigned value of 'first' is returned
    def displayFirstname(self):
        return self.first
    def displayFullname(self):
        return self.first + " " + self.last
    def saying(self):
        print "Hello %s %s " % (self.first, self.last)

Once your class is created you can start to create objects that use the methods within the class.

# Associate object with class
user=identity()
# Use methods to assign values
user.createFirst('Bill')
user.createLast('Jones')
# Retrieve properties of an object
user.displayFullname()
'Bill Jones'
# Create another object that uses all the same methods of the class
user2=identity()
# If you ever forget what methods are available:
dir(user)