Python constructors and __init__

Question

I want to know why are constructors certainly termed as "Constructors"? What is their end-goal and how are they different from functions in a class?

Also, can there be more than one __init__ in a class? I tried the following, can someone please explain the result?

>>> class test:

    def __init__(self):

        print "init 1"

    def __init__(self):

        print "init 2"

>>> s=test()

init 2

The last question is, can we overload the __init__?

Answer 1

Please be informed that you cannot perform method/function overloading in Python means you can't have duplicated function names but different parameters.

In your code sample, you are not performing the constructor overloading __init__(). The second constructor definition rebinds the name __init__ to the new function, rendering the first method inaccessible.

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