Is Python an object-oriented programming language?

Python is a high-level programming language with various applications, such as web development, data analysis, machine learning, etc. It is a versatile language that supports multiple programming paradigms, some of which are given below:

  • Object-oriented programming (OOP)

  • Event-driven programming (EDP)

  • Functional programming (FP)

  • Aspect-oriented programming (AOP):

  • Procedural programming

Object-oriented programming (OOP)

OOP is a programming paradigm in which we can create objects and define the relationship between multiple objects. Objects are created through classes. A class defines different data variables and functions for an object.

The table below gives examples of some classes and the data it can contain:

Class

Variables

Sample Objects

Song

name, genre, artist

  • Yellow
  • Dynamite

Employee

name, id, department

  • Employee_1
  • Employee_2

Fruit

name, taste, origin

  • Starwberry
  • Mango

The four fundamental concepts seen in OOP are abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism.

OOP in Python

Python supports the OOP paradigm. We can create different classes, objects, and methods in it. It also supports all fundamental OOP concepts, such as inheritance, polymorphism, etc.

Code example 1

In Python, we use the keyword class to create a class. The following code shows how to create a simple class in Python:

# create a class
class song:
  def __init__(self, name, genre, artist):
    self.name = name
    self.genre = genre
    self.artist = artist
#create an object
s1 = song("Animals", "Rock", "Maroon 5")
#fetch attributes of the object
print(s1.name)
print(s1.genre)
print(s1.artist)

Code explanation

  • Lines 2–6: We create a class song.

  • Lines 3–6: We define the __init__ function, which is called automatically when we create an object.

  • Line 9: We create an object using the song class.

Code example 2

Now, let's create a function inside the song class that will update an object’s genre in the code given below:

# create a class
class song:
  def __init__(self, name, genre, artist):
    self.name = name
    self.genre = genre
    self.artist = artist
  def updateGenre(self, newGenre):
    self.genre = newGenre
#create an object
s1 = song("Animals", "Rock", "Maroon 5")
#fetch attributes of the object
print(s1.name)
print(s1.genre)
print(s1.artist)
#call the update_genre function
s1.updateGenre("Pop rock")
#print the new genre
print('\nUpdated genre:')
print(s1.genre)

Code explanation

  • Lines 2–8: We create a class song.

  • Lines 7–8: We define the updateGenre function, which is called to update the genre of a song object.

  • Line 11: We create an object using the song class.

  • Line 19: We update the genre by calling the updateGenre function.

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