Is Python a

...class spam:...class ham:...class eggs:...# food.spam# food.ham# food.eggsThis holds true even if the module and class happen to have the same name. Forexample, given the following file, person.py:class person:...we need to go through the module to fetch the class as usual:import personx = person.person( )# Import module# Class within moduleAlthough this path may look redundant, it’s required: person.person refers to theperson class inside the person module. Saying just person gets the module, not theclass, unless the from statement is used:from person import personx = person( )# Get class from module# Use class nameLike any other variable, we can never see a class in a file without first importing andsomehow fetching it from its enclosing file. If this seems confusing, don’t use thesame name for a module and a class within it.Also, keep in mind that although classes and modules are both namespaces forattaching attributes, they correspond to very different source code structures: a modulereflects an entire file, but a class is a statement within a file. We’ll say more aboutsuch distinctions later in this part of the book.Classes Can Intercept Python OperatorsNow, let’s take a look at the third major difference between classes and modules:operator overloading. In simple terms, operator overloading lets objects coded withclasses intercept and respond to operations that work on built-in types: addition,slicing, printing, qualification, and so on. It’s mostly just an automatic dispatch mechanism:expressions and other built-in operations route control to implementations inclasses. Here, too, there is nothing similar in modules: modules can implement functioncalls, but not the behavior of expressions.Although we could implement all class behavior as method functions, operator overloadinglets objects be more tightly integrated with Python’s object model. Moreover,because operator overloading makes our own objects act like built-ins, it tends to472 | Chapter 23: Class Coding Basics