基本上，当在同一个类中的多个函数中使用一个变量时，需要使用'self'关键字。至于init，它用于设置默认值，以防该类中没有其他函数被调用。

在这段代码中:

class A(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.x = 'Hello'

    def method_a(self, foo):
        print self.x + ' ' + foo

．.． self变量表示对象本身的实例。大多数面向对象语言将此作为一个隐藏参数传递给对象上定义的方法;Python则不然。你必须显式地声明它。当你创建一个A类的实例并调用它的方法时，它将被自动传递，就像在…

a = A()               # We do not pass any argument to the __init__ method
a.method_a('Sailor!') # We only pass a single argument

__init__方法大致代表Python中的构造函数。当你调用A()时，Python为你创建一个对象，并将其作为第一个参数传递给__init__方法。任何额外的参数(例如，A(24， 'Hello'))也会作为参数传递——在这种情况下会引发异常，因为构造函数并不期望它们。

在这段代码中:

class Cat:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
    def info(self):
        print 'I am a cat and I am called', self.name

在这里，__init__充当类的构造函数，当对象实例化时，将调用此函数。Self表示实例化对象。

c = Cat('Kitty')
c.info()

上述陈述的结果如下:

I am a cat and I am called Kitty

在这里，这个家伙写得很好，很简单:https://www.jeffknupp.com/blog/2014/06/18/improve-your-python-python-classes-and-object-oriented-programming/

阅读上面的链接作为参考:

self? So what's with that self parameter to all of the Customer methods? What is it? Why, it's the instance, of course! Put another way, a method like withdraw defines the instructions for withdrawing money from some abstract customer's account. Calling jeff.withdraw(100.0) puts those instructions to use on the jeff instance. So when we say def withdraw(self, amount):, we're saying, "here's how you withdraw money from a Customer object (which we'll call self) and a dollar figure (which we'll call amount). self is the instance of the Customer that withdraw is being called on. That's not me making analogies, either. jeff.withdraw(100.0) is just shorthand for Customer.withdraw(jeff, 100.0), which is perfectly valid (if not often seen) code. init self may make sense for other methods, but what about init? When we call init, we're in the process of creating an object, so how can there already be a self? Python allows us to extend the self pattern to when objects are constructed as well, even though it doesn't exactly fit. Just imagine that jeff = Customer('Jeff Knupp', 1000.0) is the same as calling jeff = Customer(jeff, 'Jeff Knupp', 1000.0); the jeff that's passed in is also made the result. This is why when we call init, we initialize objects by saying things like self.name = name. Remember, since self is the instance, this is equivalent to saying jeff.name = name, which is the same as jeff.name = 'Jeff Knupp. Similarly, self.balance = balance is the same as jeff.balance = 1000.0. After these two lines, we consider the Customer object "initialized" and ready for use. Be careful what you __init__ After init has finished, the caller can rightly assume that the object is ready to use. That is, after jeff = Customer('Jeff Knupp', 1000.0), we can start making deposit and withdraw calls on jeff; jeff is a fully-initialized object.

__init__确实像一个构造函数。如果您希望任何类函数表现为非静态方法，则需要将“self”作为第一个参数传递给它们。self是类的实例变量。

# Source: Class and Instance Variables
# https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/classes.html#class-and-instance-variables

class MyClass(object):
    # class variable
    my_CLS_var = 10

    # sets "init'ial" state to objects/instances, use self argument
    def __init__(self):
        # self usage => instance variable (per object)
        self.my_OBJ_var = 15

        # also possible, class name is used => init class variable
        MyClass.my_CLS_var = 20


def run_example_func():
    # PRINTS    10    (class variable)
    print MyClass.my_CLS_var

    # executes __init__ for obj1 instance
    # NOTE: __init__ changes class variable above
    obj1 = MyClass()

    # PRINTS    15    (instance variable)
    print obj1.my_OBJ_var

    # PRINTS    20    (class variable, changed value)
    print MyClass.my_CLS_var


run_example_func()