Differences between a function and a method in python
- A function is an independent piece of code and must be called independently and is defined outside of a class
- all methods are functions
- Functions are not associated with any object; they are independent entities in a program
- A function is an independent entity, so can be invoked just by its name.
- Functions do not require any ‘self’ argument
- A method is an independent piece of code which can only be called with reference to the object which contains its definition
- all function are not methods
- Methods are associated with the objects of the class they belong to, so are not independent entities
- A method is called with reference to an object. It cannot be invoked just by its name
- A method requires to have ‘self’ as its first argument
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A function is an independent piece of code and must be called independently and is defined outside of a class.
A method is an independent piece of code which can only be called with reference to the object which contains its definition. A method can operate on data that is contained within the class from which the object is derived. |
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In general, methods are functions that belong to a class, functions can be on any other scope of the code so you could state that all methods are functions, but not all functions are methods.
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A class is not needed to define a function.
Methods definitions are always present inside a class. |
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Functions are not associated with any object.
Methods are associated with the objects of the class they belong to. |
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Functions do not require any ‘self’ argument. They can have zero or more arguments.
A method requires to have ‘self’ as its first argument. |
