Intro to Classes and Special Methods

Join us for two introductory talks, sponsored by Jana (http://jana.com).

If you've never used classes, or just would like to brush up on some of the details, tonight's talks are for you:

Joe Jevnik, Introduction to Classes
What are classes? When should you use them? How do they work? Python is an object oriented language: much of its power comes from implementing your own classes to represent the nouns in your programs. Starting from first principles, this talk will show how to use classes to build your own objects.

Cliff Dyer, Special Methods
Much of Python's syntax can be customized for your own objects. How can you make your object act like a dict, or a list? Special methods (that look like this) underlie all of Python's functionality. You can implement them yourself to give your objects special powers. This talk will demonstrate how to create classes that operate seamlessly with Python's built-in behavior.

Pizza will be provided by Jana. Food and mingling at 6:30, talks start at 7:00.