u09_slides-advanced-classes-flashcards

Question 1

What is the root/base class for all Python classes?

Answer 1

The ‘object’ class - all classes inherit its special methods

Question 2

What happens by default when using == to compare custom class instances?

Answer 2

It falls back to a reference/identity check (equivalent to ‘is’ operator)

Question 3

What is operator overloading?

Answer 3

Changing the default behavior of operators (like ==, +, *) for custom classes by implementing special methods

Question 4

What special method is called when using the == operator?

Answer 4

__eq__(self

Question 5

What should __eq__ return if the comparison isn’t supported?

Answer 5

Return NotImplemented

Question 6

What special method enables addition (+) for custom classes?

Answer 6

__add__(self

Question 7

What special method enables multiplication (*) for custom classes?

Answer 7

__mul__(self

Question 8

What special method enables index access ([]) for custom classes?

Answer 8

__getitem__(self

Question 9

What special method enables the ‘in’ operator for custom classes?

Answer 9

__contains__(self

Question 10

How do you make a custom class iterable (usable in for loops)?

Answer 10

Implement __iter__(self) method

Question 11

How do you enable context manager support (with statement)?

Answer 11

Implement both __enter__(self) and __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback) methods

Question 12

How do you make an object callable like a function?

Answer 12

Implement __call__(self

Question 13

What special method is used for hashing objects?

Answer 13

__hash__(self)

Question 14

What special method is used for string representation?

Answer 14

__str__(self)

Question 15

What special method is used for less than comparisons?

Answer 15

__lt__(self

Question 16

Where can you find the specifications for special methods?

Answer 16

Python’s data model documentation (docs.python.org/3/reference/datamodel.html)

Question 17

Does the object class have any attributes that are inherited?

Answer 17

No - object has no instance attributes that are inherited

Question 18

When implementing __eq__ what’s a good practice to include?

Answer 18

Check if the other object is an instance of the same class using isinstance()

Question 19

What happens when you use == between objects?

Answer 19

Python automatically translates it to a call to __eq__(self

Question 20

What are special methods primarily used for?

Answer 20

Enabling Python-specific behaviors and features for custom classes, like operators and built-in function support