In python, Can an abstract class be instantiated?

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from abc import ABC, abstractmethod

class Example(ABC):
    def smile(self):
        print("smile")

My understanding is that Example becomes an AbstractClass when it inherits the ABC class. An AbstractClass can't be instantiated but the following code executes without errors

example = Example()
abc abstract-class abstract inheritance python
1 Answers

Your class does become abstract, although the method/methods that are contained inside (which is smile) is/are concrete. You need to make the methods inside abstract using the decorator @abc.abstractclass. Thus, if you rewrite your code to:

from abc import ABC, abstractmethod

class Example(ABC):
    @abstractmethod
    def smile(self):
        print("smile")
        
e = Example()

then you would get the error:

TypeError: Can't instantiate abstract class Example with abstract methods smile
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