Python 'self' keyword

Question

I am new to Python (usually work on C#), started using it over the last couple of days.

Within a class, do you need to prefix any call to that classes data members a

Answer 1

First, Python's self is not a keyword, it's a coding convention, the same as Python's cls.

Guido has written a really detailed and valuable article about the origin of Python's support for class, and in that article, Guido explains why use self and cls, and why they are necessary.

See http://python-history.blogspot.com/2009/02/adding-support-for-user-defined-classes.html.