The classmethod()
method returns a class method for the given function.
Example
class Student:
marks = 0
def compute_marks(self, obtained_marks):
marks = obtained_marks
print('Obtained Marks:', marks)
# convert compute_marks() to class method
Student.print_marks = classmethod(Student.compute_marks)
Student.print_marks(88)
# Output: Obtained Marks: 88
classmethod() Syntax
The syntax of classmethod()
method is:
classmethod(function)
classmethod()
is considered un-Pythonic so in newer Python versions, you can use the @classmethod
decorator for classmethod definition.
The syntax is:
@classmethod def func(cls, args...)
classmethod() Parameters
classmethod()
method takes a single parameter:
- function - Function that needs to be converted into a class method
classmethod() Return Value
classmethod()
method returns a class method for the given function.
What is a class method?
A class method is a method that is bound to a class rather than its object. It doesn't require creation of a class instance, much like staticmethod.
The difference between a static method and a class method is:
- Static method knows nothing about the class and just deals with the parameters
- Class method works with the class since its parameter is always the class itself.
The class method can be called both by the class and its object.
Class.classmethod() Or even Class().classmethod()
But no matter what, the class method is always attached to a class with the first argument as the class itself cls.
def classMethod(cls, args...)
Example 1: Create class method using classmethod()
class Person:
age = 25
def printAge(cls):
print('The age is:', cls.age)
# create printAge class method
Person.printAge = classmethod(Person.printAge)
Person.printAge()
Output
The age is: 25
Here, we have a class Person
, with a member variable age assigned to 25.
We also have a function printAge
that takes a single parameter cls and not self
we usually take.
cls accepts the class Person
as a parameter rather than Person's object/instance.
Now, we pass the method Person.printAge
as an argument to the function classmethod
. This converts the method to a class method so that it accepts the first parameter as a class (i.e. Person).
In the final line, we call printAge
without creating a Person object like we do for static methods. This prints the class variable age.
When do you use the class method?
1. Factory methods
Factory methods are those methods that return a class object (like constructor) for different use cases.
It is similar to function overloading in C++. Since, Python doesn't have anything as such, class methods and static methods are used.
Example 2: Create factory method using class method
from datetime import date
# random Person
class Person:
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age
@classmethod
def fromBirthYear(cls, name, birthYear):
return cls(name, date.today().year - birthYear)
def display(self):
print(self.name + "'s age is: " + str(self.age))
person = Person('Adam', 19)
person.display()
person1 = Person.fromBirthYear('John', 1985)
person1.display()
Output
Adam's age is: 19 John's age is: 31
Here, we have two class instance creator, a constructor and a fromBirthYear
method.
The constructor takes normal parameters name and age. While, fromBirthYear
takes class, name and birthYear, calculates the current age by subtracting it with the current year and returns the class instance.
The fromBirthYear method takes Person class (not Person object) as the first parameter cls and returns the constructor by calling cls(name, date.today().year - birthYear)
, which is equivalent to Person(name, date.today().year - birthYear)
Before the method, we see @classmethod
. This is called a decorator for converting fromBirthYear
to a class method as classmethod()
.
2. Correct instance creation in inheritance
Whenever you derive a class from implementing a factory method as a class method, it ensures correct instance creation of the derived class.
You can create a static method for the above example but the object it creates, will always be hard coded as Base class.
But, when you use a class method, it creates the correct instance of the derived class.
Example 3: How the class method works for the inheritance?
from datetime import date
# random Person
class Person:
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age
@staticmethod
def fromFathersAge(name, fatherAge, fatherPersonAgeDiff):
return Person(name, date.today().year - fatherAge + fatherPersonAgeDiff)
@classmethod
def fromBirthYear(cls, name, birthYear):
return cls(name, date.today().year - birthYear)
def display(self):
print(self.name + "'s age is: " + str(self.age))
class Man(Person):
sex = 'Male'
man = Man.fromBirthYear('John', 1985)
print(isinstance(man, Man))
man1 = Man.fromFathersAge('John', 1965, 20)
print(isinstance(man1, Man))
Output
True False
Here, using a static method to create a class instance wants us to hardcode the instance type during creation.
This clearly causes a problem when inheriting Person
to Man
.
fromFathersAge
method doesn't return a Man
object but its base class Person
's object.
This violates the OOP paradigm. Using a class method as fromBirthYear
can ensure the OOP-ness of the code since it takes the first parameter as the class itself and calls its factory method.