__init__ explanation please

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:45 +0100, Hrvoje Niksic wrote:

> Ben Finney <bignose+hates-spam at benfinney.id.au> writes:
> 
>> Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic at xemacs.org> writes:
>>
>>> Wildemar Wildenburger <lasses_weil at klapptsowieso.net> writes:
>>> > __init__() /initializes/ an instance (automatically after creation).
>>> > It is called, /after/ the instance has been constructed
>>> 
>>> I don't understand the purpose of this "correction".  After all,
>>> __init__ *is* the closest equivalent to what other languages would
>>> call a constructor.
>>
>> No. That would be '__new__', which actually constructs the instance,
> 
> That's not what other OO languages (C++, Java) actually call a
> constructor, so your correction is misplaced.  My other posts in this
> thread have expanded on this.


How fortunate that Python isn't one of those other OO languages, 
otherwise it might cause a bit of confusion.



-- 
Steven