Objects for newbies

About the Course

New to Python? Confused by object-oriented programming?

That’s not a surprise. Objects have a lot of terminology and concepts that are hard for newcomers to grasp. Add to that the unusual syntax, and it’s easy to be lost.

Among the questions you might be asking:

• What does it mean that everything is an object, and why do we care?
• What are classes, instances, and methods?
• What are attributes?
• What is self?
• If I use Python objects, does that mean I’m a selfish person? (Note: Expect lots of jokes like this during my classes.)

I’ll introduce the ideas behind object-oriented programming in general, and in Python in particular, We’ll talk about what it means to write a class, what it means to assign attributes, and how we can (and should) do so. We’ll write some basic methods, and talk about how they’re different from functions.

If you’ve been confused by object-oriented programming, this class will demystify the subject, and help you to understand when this technique is appropriate — and when it isn’t.

The course is aimed at people who have had a basic introduction to Python, and either never worked with objects or were thoroughly confused by them. The course consists of two 3.5-hour lectures, including many exercises to practice what we’ve done.