Why is 'self' required to be a function parameter?

Question

I understand that self allows a method to act on specific data member of a class instance, but why is it necessary that self is included as a function parameter? Why is it not just a keyword like 'this' in C++?

Answer 1

It's just a personal preference of the language designer. Neither way is more correct than the other. But Python tends toward making things explicit, so you see design decisions tilting in this direction.