InitReturnsObject

Correction

Here is what's right.

The __init__ method cannot return values other than None. This method is called immediately after the object is instantiated, and should contain code to initialize the attributes of the created object (the object referred to by self).

Origin

Where could this misconception come from?

This misconception may come from how newly created objects are used:

class Animal:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

cat = Animal('tom')

In the above code, the expression Animal('tom') produces a value. Students may believe that for it to produce a value, the __init__ method has to produce that value. They may believe that Animal(...) is an expression that only results in a call to __init__.

Instead, the object is not created by the __init__ method, but by the evaluation of the Animal('tom') expression, which instantiates the object and then calls the __init__ method to initialize its attributes.

Symptoms

How do you know your students might have this misconception?

Students might do the following:

• write an __init__ method that returns self
• write an __init__ method, e.g. of a class Animal, that returns Animal()