What are class methods?

Can you explain what class methods are in programming?

Sure! Class methods are functions that are associated with a class rather than an instance of the class. They can be called on the class itself.

How do class methods differ from instance methods?

Instance methods operate on instances of a class and can access instance variables, while class methods can only access class variables.

Can you give me an example of a class method?

Of course! In Python, you can define a class method using the @classmethod decorator. Here's a simple example:

class MyClass:
    class_variable = 0

    @classmethod
    def increment_class_variable(cls):
        cls.class_variable += 1

What are some use cases for class methods?

Class methods are useful for factory methods, which create instances of a class, and for maintaining state that is shared across all instances.