understanding the class as packaging method class is essentially method for packaging code the idea is to simplify code reusemake applications more reliableand reduce the potential for security breaches well-designed classes are black boxes that accept certain inputs and provide specific outputs based on those inputs in shorta class shouldn' create any surprises for anyone and should have known (quantifiablebehaviors how the class accomplishes its work is unimportantand hiding the details of its inner workings is essential to good coding practice before you move onto actual class theoryyou need to know few terms that are specific to classes the following list defines terms that you need to know in order to use the material that follows later in the these terms are specific to python (other languages may use different terms for the same techniques or define terms that python uses in different ways classdefines blueprint for creating an object think of builder who wants to create building of some type the builder uses blueprint to ensure that the building will meet the required specifications likewisepython uses classes as blueprint for creating new objects class variableprovides storage location used by all methods in an instance of the class class variable is defined within the class proper but outside of any of the class methods class variables aren' used very often because they're potential security risk -every method of the class has access to the same information in addition to being security riskclass variables are also visible as part of the class rather than particular instance of classso they pose the potential problem of class contamination data memberdefines either class variable or an instance variable used to hold data associated with class and its objects function overloadingcreates more than one version of functionwhich results in different behaviors the essential task of the function may be the samebut the inputs are different and potentially the outputs as well function overloading is used to provide flexibility so that function can work with applications in various ways inheritanceuses parent class to create child classes that have the same characteristics the child classes usually have extended functionality or provide more specific behaviors than the parent class does instancedefines an object created from the specification provided by class python can create as many instances of class to perform the work required by an application each instance is unique