bpo-30466: Add brief explanation of classes to tutorial (GH-1804) (GH-2700)

treyhunner · Mariatta · commit ef4231adb7aa · 2017-07-20T20:10:54.000-07:00
diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/classes.rst b/Doc/tutorial/classes.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 Classes
 *******
 
+Classes provide a means of bundling data and functionality together.  Creating
+a new class creates a new *type* of object, allowing new *instances* of that
+type to be made.  Each class instance can have attributes attached to it for
+maintaining its state.  Class instances can also have methods (defined by its
+class) for modifying its state.
+
 Compared with other programming languages, Python's class mechanism adds classes
 with a minimum of new syntax and semantics.  It is a mixture of the class
 mechanisms found in C++ and Modula-3.  Python classes provide all the standard
