Python: Self is not defined

Question

class a(object):
 def __init__(self):
         self.b = 1
         self.c = 2

This gives the error: NameError: name 'self' is not defined

I looked at a previous post, but the error was for a different reason. Any help with this?

The code in the question is valid. By the way, class names begin with a capital letter by convention — pberkes
@Nathon: I reverted your edit since the indentation is exactly what's wrong with the code, and fixing the indentation makes the question entirely pointless. — sepp2k
on which line do you get the NameError (yes, I doubt it's too relevant, but...). Please append the full stacktrace. — Adriano Varoli Piazza

sepp2k sepp2k · Accepted Answer · 2010-10-28T17:39:21

I'm assuming the single space before def __init__(self): is actually a tab in your file and displayed as four spaces by your editor.

However python interprets a tab as 8 spaces, so the following two lines (which are indented by 8 spaces) are seen by python to be at the same level of indentation as the def.

This is exactly why you shouldn't mix tabs and spaces.

Python: Self is not defined

2 Answers