table continued method result _eq_ (self,other_ _ne_ (self,otherself =other self !other it is not necessary for an object to implement all of the operations in table howeverif you want to be able to compare objects using =or use an object as dictionary keythe _eq_ (method should be defined if you want to be able to sort objects or use functions such as min(or max()then _lt_ (must be minimally defined type checking the methods in table can be used to redefine the behavior of the type checking functions isinstance(and issubclass(the most common application of these methods is in defining abstract base classes and interfacesas described in table methods for type checking method result _instancecheck_ (cls,object_ _subclasscheck_ (clssubisinstance(objectclsissubclass(subclsattribute access the methods in table readwriteand delete the attributes of an object using the dot operator and the del operatorrespectively table special methods for attribute access method description returns the attribute self name returns the attribute self name if not found through normal attribute lookup or raise attributeerror _setattr_ (selfnamevaluesets the attribute self name value overrides the default mechanism _delattr_ (selfnamedeletes the attribute self name _getattribute_ (self,name_ _getattr_ (selfnamewhenever an attribute is accessedthe _getattribute_ (method is always invoked if the attribute is locatedit is returned otherwisethe _getattr_ (method is invoked the default behavior of _getattr_ (is to raise an attributeerror exception the _setattr_ (method is always invoked when setting an attributeand the _delattr_ (method is always invoked when deleting an attribute lib fl ff