CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonclassobjectoopinstance
user13469230
user13469230

Reputation:

What is the difference between an instance and an object in Python?

There are different definitions for both which is really confusing.

Can someone please clarify the difference between them?

Upvotes: 7

Views: 5626

Answers (2)

snakecharmerb
snakecharmerb

Reputation: 55924

In Python, everything is an object. Moreover in Python objects are instances of classes, so it follows that every object is also an instance of some class*.

However, we generally use the term instance in preference to object when we want to discuss the behaviour of instances of a specific class or classes

Instances of Foo provide the following operations ...

No two instances of Bar may compare as equal ...

So we might say that object is the most general term, whereas instances refers to the set of objects which are instances of a particular class or classes, and instance is a specific object which is an instance of a particular class.

In short, they are the same thing, but we use these terms in different contexts.

*Python enables this circular definition by making object an instance of type, and type an instance of object, and both object and type are instances of themselves.

Upvotes: 6

Bryan Oakley
Bryan Oakley

Reputation: 386342

instance and object are effectively the same thing. When you create an instance of a class, that instance is an object.

Put another way, every instance is an object. That is the literal definition of an object: an instance of a class.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions