Dunder/Magic Methods in Python

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Proposed title of article

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Dunder/Magic Methods in Python

Introduction paragraph(s):

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The article will talk about dunder methods like init, len, getitem, etc. Various example functions and classes will be discussed. Dunder methods are names that are preceded and succeeded by double underscores, hence the name under. They are also called magic methods and can help override functionality for built-in functions for custom classes. Implementing dunder methods for classes is a good form of Polymorphism. If you have created a class in Python and used the init function, you have already been using dunder methods.

Consider the case where we have the following class

class point:
    x = 4
    y = 5

p1 = point()
print(p1)

The print statement would print something like <__main__.point object at 0x7fb992998d00>. However, we might want the print statement to display something in the format (4,10). We can achieve this by overriding the __str__ method of our class.

We could also override other methods such as the len, +, [] etc. We will be creating a new class and override multiple of the built-in functions in this article.

Key takeaways:

What are the 3-5 most important things the reader should understand or be able to do after reading this article? Use this area to get your ideas down on the bulk of your article or tutorial.

Reader will understand dunder/magic methods
Reader will know about common dunder/magic methods
Reader will be able to create their own classes with dunder methods

References:

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section-engineering-education / engineering-education