So far, Python has given you ready-made types: strings, lists, dictionaries. But what if you need to represent something those types do not cover, like a dog, a bank account, or a player in a game?

A class lets you define your own type. Think of it as a template that describes what data something holds and what it can do. Once you have a class, you create individual objects from it.

You have actually been using classes all along. Every value in Python comes from one.

See the word class in each result? int, str, list are all classes that Python provides. Now you will write your own.

pass is a placeholder. It means the class body is empty for now. We will fill it in later lessons.

To create an object from a class, call the class name with parentheses. The result is called an instance of that class.

Each call creates a separate object. Two instances of the same class are independent, just like two separate lists are independent even though both are lists.

You can attach data to an instance using dot notation. With a dictionary you write d["name"]. With an object you write obj.name. The stored values are called attributes.

Setting an attribute on one instance does not affect other instances. Each object keeps its own data.