I have been using classes for only a short while and when I write a method, I make all variables reference self, e.g. self.foo.

However, I'm looking through the wxPython in Action book and notice that "self" isn't used all the time. For example:

 import wx
 class TextFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, None, -1, 'Text Entry Example',
            size=(300, 100))
        panel = wx.Panel(self, -1)
        basicLabel = wx.StaticText(panel, -1, "Basic Control:")
        basicText = wx.TextCtrl(panel, -1, "I've entered some text!",
            size=(175, -1))
        basicText.SetInsertionPoint(0)
        pwdLabel = wx.StaticText(panel, -1, "Password:")
        pwdText = wx.TextCtrl(panel, -1, "password", size=(175, -1),
            style=wx.TE_PASSWORD)
        sizer = wx.FlexGridSizer(cols=2, hgap=6, vgap=6)
        sizer.AddMany([basicLabel, basicText, pwdLabel, pwdText])
        panel.SetSizer(sizer)

The one below does use "self".

import wx
class ButtonFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, None, -1, 'Button Example',
            size=(300, 100))
        panel = wx.Panel(self, -1)
        self.button = wx.Button(panel, -1, "Hello", pos=(50, 20))
        self.Bind(wx.EVT_BUTTON, self.OnClick, self.button)
        self.button.SetDefault()
    def OnClick(self, event):
        self.button.SetLabel("Clicked")

If I remember correctly, "self" is reference to a particular instance of the class, so when is it not necessary? Is there a general rule of thumb?

python wxpython
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