Python- creating object instances in a loop with independent handling

Question

I have a simple election program. The following are the requirements:

1. class Politician
2. Randomized votes.

3. Taking number of politicians as input from user.

   num_politicians = input("The number of politicians: ")
   

4. Looping and creating instances

   names = []
   for x in range(num_politicians):
       new_name = input("Name: ")
       while new_name in names:
           new_name = input("Please enter another name: ")
       names.append(new_name)
   
       #### This part is the crux of my problem
       ### Create instances of the Politician class
       #### I want to do this in a way so that i can independently 
       #### handle each instance when i randomize and assign votes
   

I have looked at:

1. How do you create different variable names while in a loop? (Python)
2. Python: Create instance of an object in a loop

However I could not find a solution to my problem

The Politician class is below:

class Politician:

    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = str(name)
        self.age = age
        self.votes = 0

    def change(self):
        self.votes = self.votes + 1

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name + ": " + str(self.votes)

The Desired Output:

>>> The Number of politicians: 3
>>> Name: John
>>> Name: Joseph
>>> Name: Mary
>>> Processing...
(I use time.sleep(1.0) here)
>>> Mary: 8 votes
>>> John: 2 votes
>>> Joseph: 1 vote

My problem in one statement

I want to create class instances in the for-loop in such a way that i can assign them votes randomly (This would, I suppose, require me to independently handle instances.)

Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

You can store your instances in a list:

politicians = []
for name in 'ABC':
    politicians.append(Politician(name))

Now you can access individual instances:

>>> politicians[0].name
'A'

I used a modified version of your class that gives each politician a default age if no is provided:

class Politician:

    def __init__(self, name, age=45):
        self.name = str(name)
        self.age = age
        self.votes = 0

    def change(self):
        self.votes = self.votes + 1

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name + ": " + str(self.votes)

Now you can work with your list of politicians:

print('The Number of politicians: {}'.format(len(politicians)))

prints:

The Number of politicians: 3

this:

for politician in politicians:
    print(politician)

prints:

A: 0
B: 0
C: 0

Assign random votes:

import random

for x in range(100):
    pol = random.choice(politicians)
    pol.votes += 1

Now:

for politician in politicians:
    print(politician)

prints:

A: 35
B: 37
C: 28

The whole program:

# Assuming Python 3.

class Politician:

    def __init__(self, name, age=45):
        self.name = str(name)
        self.age = age
        self.votes = 0

    def change(self):
        self.votes = self.votes + 1

    def __str__(self):
        return '{}: {} votes'.format(self.name, self.votes)

num_politicians = int(input("The number of politicians: "))
politicians = []
for n in range(num_politicians):
    if n == 0:
        new_name = input("Please enter a name: ")
    else:
        new_name = input("Please enter another name: ")
    politicians.append(Politician(new_name))

print('The Number of politicians: {}'.format(len(politicians)))
for politician in politicians:
    print(politician)

print('Processing ...')
for x in range(100):
    pol = random.choice(politicians)
    pol.votes += 1

for politician in politicians:
    print(politician)

And the usage:

The number of politicians: 3
Please enter a name: John
Please enter another name: Joseph
Please enter another name: Mary
The Number of politicians: 3
John: 0 votes
Joseph: 0 votes
Mary: 0 votes
Processing ...
John: 25 votes
Joseph: 39 votes
Mary: 36 votes

UPDATE

As @martineau suggests, for real-live problems a dictionary would be more useful.

Create dictionary instead of a list:

politicians = {}

and in the loop us the name as key when you add your instance:

politicians[new_name] = Politician(new_name)