Question

What is the purpose of the "self" keyword when defining or calling instance methods?

self is just historic computer science jargon but it does not serve any purpose since everything is an object in Python
self is used when no other arguments are required for the method
self makes sure an instance of the parent class is created automatically
self refers to the instance whose method was called

Answer 1

The 'self' keyword in Python refers to the class instance itself, allowing access to its attributes and methods from within the class.

Step-by-step explanation:

The purpose of the self keyword in Python is to refer to the instance of the class itself when defining or calling instance methods. When you define a method in a class definition, self is used as the first parameter to refer to the instance object that is being created or modified. It is not merely historic jargon, nor does it create an instance of the parent class automatically. Instead, it is essential for referring to instance attributes and other methods from within the class methods. This usage is integral to the way object-oriented programming is implemented in Python.

The purpose of the "self" keyword when defining or calling instance methods in Python is to refer to the instance (object) whose method is being called. It allows the method to access and manipulate the instance's attributes and other methods. For example, if you have a class called "Car", and you define a method called "accelerate()", you would use "self" as the first parameter to refer to the specific instance of the car on which the accelerate() method is being called.