Python in a Nutshell

Name

__init__

Synopsis

__init__(self[,args...])

When a call C ( [args...] ) creates instance x of class C Python calls x .__init__( [args...] ) to let x initialize itself. If __init__ is absent, you must call class C without arguments, C ( ), and x has no instance-specific attributes upon creation (note that __init__ is never absent for a new-style class, since such a class inherits __init__ from object unless it redefines it). __init__ must return None. Python performs no implicit call to __init__ methods of class C’s superclasses. C .__init__ must explicitly perform any needed initialization. For example, when class C has a base class B to initialize without arguments, the code in C .__init__ must explicitly call B .__init__(self) (or better, for new-style classes, call super( C, self).__init__( )).