What Is a Class in Python

and why you might not need it yet

You’ve probably heard the word class tossed around a lot.
Some tutorials treat it like it’s the holy grail of Python.
Others throw you into some Animal, Dog, Cat nonsense and leave you wondering:

“Why would I ever use this in real life?”

Let’s fix that.
Let’s actually understand what a class is without the fluff.

First, what is a class?

A class in Python is a blueprint for creating objects.

Imagine you’re building chairs. You create a chair blueprint once, and then you can build many chairs from that blueprint. Each chair might be a little different (different color, size), but they all follow the same structure.

A Python class works the same way. It’s a blueprint. You define what “something” should look like and behave like, and then you can create multiple versions of it (objects).

🪑 Okay, but why do I care?

You don’t need a class for everything.
In fact, if you're still learning the basics of Python—functions, loops, data structures—you probably don’t need classes yet.

But if you ever find yourself writing a bunch of related data and behavior, and you’re tired of juggling dictionaries and functions separately, classes start to shine.

A concrete example (no dogs or cats)

Say you’re making a system for managing students in a course.
You could do this with dictionaries:

student1 = {"name": "Alice", "progress": 0}
student2 = {"name": "Bob", "progress": 25}

Then you make a function to update progress:

def update_progress(student, amount):
    student["progress"] += amount

It works. But now you’ve got data here, logic over there, and the whole thing is getting messy.

Here’s where a class makes things cleaner:

class Student:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
        self.progress = 0

    def update_progress(self, amount):
        self.progress += amount

Now you can do this:

alice = Student("Alice")
alice.update_progress(10)
print(alice.progress)  # 10

You’ve bundled the data and the behavior into one object. That is the benefit of classes. Classes keep your code more organized in certain scenarios by bundling together data (i.e., name) and behavior (e.g., updating progress).

You’ve basically said:

"Hey Python, here's what a Student looks like and what it can do. Now let me create actual students and use them easily."

But listen:

Don't let anyone pressure you into using classes “just because.”
Only use them when they solve a real problem for you—like organizing code, reducing repetition, or bundling data and logic together.

If you don’t know when that is yet, that’s totally fine.
Keep building small things. Keep writing functions.
One day you’ll hit a project where you’ll feel the need for a class.
That’s when it’ll actually make sense.

To wrap it up:

• A class is a blueprint for creating objects with both data and behavior.

• You don’t need them early on—stick with functions and dictionaries until you feel the pain.

• When your code starts to get messy, and you have lots of related data + actions, it’s time to consider a class.

And if you’re not sure when that time is?
Just keep doing the daily Python projects.
You’ll get there naturally.

Want a hands-on project with a class that actually makes sense?
I’ll be posting one soon.

— Ardit