Understanding Class, object and Instance

Question

So in the video.
she passed this code
below is the class created.
```
class Car():
pass

below is supposedly creating an object with class.
the created object  is my_car. this process is called instatiation.

my_car = Car()
```
Does this mean, the variable "my_car" is the instance? as well as an object? 
is the variable an object also?
I am confused.

Chris Freeman · Accepted Answer

Hey @Regina Ackah (https://teamtreehouse.com/reginaa), good question.
A class defined using 
python
class Car:
    pass

may be referred to as Car. When parens are added, as in, Car(), this causes the creation of an instance of the class. This object is usually assigned to a label, such as my_car that points to the new created instance.
So "variables" are basically labels that point to objects. This is how objects are passed into functions. The label is passed to a function that, in turn, points it's local parameter label to the same object.
So my_car is the label (aka variable) that points to an instance of Car.
Going a bit further, once the class Car has been defined, it is the label Car that is pointed to the class.
Whoa, what's with all these labels? Also a good question. These label references to objects are all organized into namespaces (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/classes.html#python-scopes-and-namespaces), so that the scope of where they have meaning is well defined.
Post back if you have more questions. Good luck!

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Regina Ackah

Regina Ackah

Understanding Class, object and Instance

1 Answer

Chris Freeman

Chris Freeman

Regina Ackah

Regina Ackah