Attribute lookup
Attribute lookup is Python's runtime process for resolving a named attribute through an object's instance, class, inheritance hierarchy, and base objects.
Python Workout: 50 ten-minute exercises
Attribute lookup is the runtime process Python uses to resolve a named attribute accessed through an object.
- How it is used
- Resolves named attributes on objects and explains how instance method calls reach definitions stored on classes.
- How deep it goes
- Explains the ICPO search order and method retrieval, while stopping before detailed descriptor or invocation internals.
- Examples
- Uses string.upper, Foo and Bar method calls, and inheritance diagrams to illustrate lookup across instances, classes, and parents.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate why an instance method call succeeds when the method is defined on its class or an inherited parent.
Read how Python Workout: 50 ten-minute exercises explains attribute lookup →
Python Workout, Second Edition
Attribute lookup is Python's process for resolving an attribute name through an object's instance, class, inheritance hierarchy, and ultimate base object.
- How it is used
- Applies attribute lookup to reason about instance attributes, class attributes, and inherited methods.
- How deep it goes
- Defines lookup across instances, classes, inheritance, and the ultimate base object, with examples of inherited methods.
- Examples
- Uses Foo and Bar inheritance, instance attribute x, inherited methods, and dataclass fields as concrete examples.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate how Python resolves an attribute on an instance and identify whether inheritance supplies the requested behavior.
Read how Python Workout, Second Edition explains attribute lookup →
Related concepts
- ICPOimplemented by · ICPO is a mnemonic for Python attribute lookup order across an instance, its class, parent classes, and the object hierarchy.
- attributeaddresses · An attribute is a named property, value, or piece of information associated with an entity, object, or program element.
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