Simple "Class" explaination

[fordie1000]

Hi,

Although I have been programming in python for years ... I rarely use
classes .... just functions etc. .... anyway I was wondering if there is
someone who could give me a simple way of remembering/understanding
what a class is .... and when it should be used.

Thanks,

[micmast]

Wikipedia:

A class is a cohesive package that consists of a particular kind of metadata. It describes the rules by which objects behave; these objects are referred to as instances of that class. A class has both an interface and a structure. The interface describes how the class and its instances can be interacted with via methods, while the structure describes how the data is partitioned into fields within an instance. A class is the most specific type of an object in relation to a specific layer. A class may also have a representation (metaobject) at runtime, which provides runtime support for manipulating the class-related metadata.

Maybe an example :)
Let's take a look at a car, a car has 4 wheels, 3-5 doors, a certain type of fuel, a brand, engine, bhp, kw,...
So we could say that "car" is just a package name for everything with 4 wheels, 3-5 doors,...
So this could be made with a class

[code=python]
class Car:

doors = 3
wheels= 4
bhp=115
kw=81
engine=1900
brand="volkswag en"
fuel="petrol"

def __init__(self):
#This method is called when a car object is made

def __init__(self,d oors,wheels,bhp ,kw,engine,bran d,fuel):
self.doors = doors
self.wheels = wheels
self.bhp = bhp
self.kw = kw
self.engine = engine
self.brand = brand
self.fuel = fuel

def implement_more_ stuff(self):
return None
[/code]
(The code might not be correct but it's about the point right?)

anyway this is how you use it

[code=python]
>>>import classexample
>>>newcar = classexample.Ca r()
>>>newcar2 = classexample.Ca r(3,4,200,100,2 500,"audi","pet rol")
>>>newcar2.impl ement_more_stuf f()
None
>>>newcar.imple ment_more_stuff ()
None
[/code]

ok this might seem odd, but what you did was create 2 cars, these cars can have other values in the variables and they can exist next to each other. And yet we only have to import 1 python file.
That is a class in a nutshell

[fordie1000]

Thanks ... this has been a great help.