Difference method vs attribut = function

Ulrich Goebel ml at fam-goebel.de
Fri Jun 28 12:08:54 EDT 2024


Hi,

a class can have methods, and it can have attributes, which can hold a function. Both is well known, of course.

My question: Is there any difference?

The code snipped shows that both do what they should do. But __dict__ includes just the method, while dir detects the method and the attribute holding a function. My be that is the only difference?


class MyClass:
    def __init__(self):
        functionAttribute = None
        
    def method(self):
        print("I'm a method")

def function():
    print("I'm a function passed to an attribute")

mc = MyClass()
mc.functionAttribute = function

mc.method()
mc.functionAttribute()

print('Dict: ', mc.__dict__)    # shows functionAttribute but not method
print('Dir:  ', dir(mc))        # shows both functionAttribute and method


By the way: in my usecase I want to pass different functions to different instances of MyClass. It is in the context of a database app where I build Getters for database data and pass one Getter per instance.

Thanks for hints
Ulrich


-- 
Ulrich Goebel <ml at fam-goebel.de>


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