Why would you return self from a class method?
Experience Level: Junior
Tags: Python
Answer
Returning self allows you to define a fluent interface that can then be called in a chain. So instead of calling class.do_something() and class.do_something_else(), you call class.do_something().do_something_else()
This is great for example in conjunction with the Builder pattern.
Example:
class MyClass:
def do_something(self):
return self
def do_something_else(self):
return self
value = MyClass() \
.do_something() \
.do_something_else()
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