Difference between methods and attributes in python

Question

I am learning python and doing an exercise about classes. It tells me to add nd attribute to my class and a method to my class. I always thought these were the same thing un

Answer 1

A quick,simplified explanation.

Attribute == characteristics. Method == operations/ actions.

For example, Let's describe a cat (meow!).

What are the attributes(characteristics) of a cat? It has different breed, name, color, whether they have spots...etc.

What are methods (actions) of a cat? It can meow, climb, scratch you, destroy your laptop, etc.

Notice the difference, attributes define characteristics of the cat.

Methods, on the other hand, defines action/operation (verb).

Now, putting the above definition in mind, let's create an object of class 'cat'...meowww

class Cat():

To create attributes, use def init(self, arg1, arg2) - (as shown below).

The 'self' keyword is a reference to a particular instance of a class.

def __init__(self, mybreed, name):
    
    # Attributes
    self.breed = mybreed
    self.name = name

# Operations/actions --> methods
def kill_mouse(self):
    print('Insert some method to kill mouse here')

Notice (above) 'mybreed' is an input argument that the user need to specify, whereas self.breed is an attribute of the instance assigned to 'mybreed' argument. Usually, they're the same (e.g. breed for both, self.breed = breed). Here, it's coded differently to avoid confusion.

And attributes are usually written as 'self.attribute_name' (as shown above).

Now, methods are more like actions, or operations, where you define a function inside the body of a class to perform some operation, for example, killing a mouse. A method could also utilize the attributes that you defined within the object itself.

Another key difference between a method and attribute is how you call it.

For example, let's say we create an instance using the above class we defined.

my_cat = Cat()

To call an attribute, you use

my_cat.name

or

my_cat.breed

For methods, you call it to execute some action. In Python, you call method with an open and close parenthesis, as shown below:

my_cat.kill_mouse()