TypeError: method() takes 1 positional argument but 2 were given

Question

If I have a class...

class MyClass:

    def method(arg):
        print(arg)

...which I use to create an object...

my_objec         


        

Answer 1

As mentioned in other answers - when you use an instance method you need to pass self as the first argument - this is the source of the error.

With addition to that,it is important to understand that only instance methods take self as the first argument in order to refer to the instance.

In case the method is Static you don't pass self, but a cls argument instead (or class_).

Please see an example below.

class City:

   country = "USA" # This is a class level attribute which will be shared across all instances  (and not created PER instance)

   def __init__(self, name, location, population):
       self.name       = name
       self.location   = location
       self.population = population
 
   # This is an instance method which takes self as the first argument to refer to the instance 
   def print_population(self, some_nice_sentence_prefix):
       print(some_nice_sentence_prefix +" In " +self.name + " lives " +self.population + " people!")

   # This is a static (class) method which is marked with the @classmethod attribute
   # All class methods must take a class argument as first param. The convention is to name is "cls" but class_ is also ok
   @classmethod
   def change_country(cls, new_country):
       cls.country = new_country

---

Some tests just to make things more clear:

# Populate objects
city1 = City("New York",    "East", "18,804,000")
city2 = City("Los Angeles", "West", "10,118,800")

#1) Use the instance method: No need to pass "self" - it is passed as the city1 instance
city1.print_population("Did You Know?") # Prints: Did You Know? In New York lives 18,804,000 people!

#2.A) Use the static method in the object
city2.change_country("Canada")

#2.B) Will be reflected in all objects
print("city1.country=",city1.country) # Prints Canada
print("city2.country=",city2.country) # Prints Canada