12. Methods - An overview

Methods are a set of statements that are called to perform a specific task.

What is the difference between function and method?

The terms function and method are used interchangeably, but if a specific difference is to be noted, a function does not need to be part of a class (this is followed in functional programming) whereas a method (which is a part of Object-oriented Programming) is a function which is always used inside a class to access the variables that hold instance data. So going forward, we shall be using the term method.

How are methods defined inside a class in Python ?

Methods are defined inside a class using the syntax:

class Class_Name:	
	def method1(self, arg1,..., argn):	
		Statement_1
		Statement_2
		...
		....
		Statement_n
    def method2(self):
 	 	Statement_1
	 	Statement_2
	 	...
	 	....
	 	Statement_n

Methods when called, are generally specific to an instance of the class like the one below:

C1 = Class_Name()
C1.method1(1, 2, 3)
C1.method2()

Methods cannot be overloaded but can be overridden under inheritance. We shall understand about it in the next section.