Question

I am just starting to learn Python, but I have already run into some errors. I have made a file called pythontest.py with the following contents:

class Fridge:
    """This class implements a fridge where ingredients can be added and removed individually
       or in groups"""
    def __init__(self, items={}):
        """Optionally pass in an initial dictionary of items"""
        if type(items) != type({}):
            raise TypeError("Fridge requires a dictionary but was given %s" % type(items))
        self.items = items
        return

I want to create a new instance of the class in the interactive terminal, so I run the following commands in my terminal:
python3

>> import pythontest
>> f = Fridge()

I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'Fridge' is not defined

The interactive console cannot find the class I made. The import worked successfully, though. There were no errors.

Answer 1

You need to do:

>>> import pythontest
>>> f = pythontest.Fridge()

Bonus: your code would be better written like this:

def __init__(self, items=None):
    """Optionally pass in an initial dictionary of items"""
    if items is None:
         items = {}
    if not isinstance(items, dict):
        raise TypeError("Fridge requires a dictionary but was given %s" % type(items))
    self.items = items