python get new random name for every call of class

Question

I am trying to get new random name every time I call class. I am defining it as

def namemethod():
    return ''.join(random.choice(string.lowercase) for x in range(5))

class Test(object):
    def __init__(self, name=namemethod()):
        self.name = name

And I am calling Test class via for loop to get new name but I keep getting same name, isn't it suppose to call init method and get new random name?

for i in range(5):
    person = Test()
    print person.name

Why person = Test() not calling namemethod everytime?

Possible duplicate of [python function default parameter is evaluated only once?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13087344/python-function-default-parameter-is-evaluated-only-once) — Aran-Fey, Jan 29 '18 at 17:55
@SilverSlash, probably https://docs.python.org/2/library/string.html#string.lowercase — chickity china chinese chicken, Jan 29 '18 at 17:55
Answers below are correct. FYI, a more detailed explanation: "[Common Gotchas - Mutable Default Arguments](http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/writing/gotchas/#mutable-default-arguments)". — BareNakedCoder, Jan 29 '18 at 18:10

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 29 '18 at 17:53

In this code:

class Test(object):
    def __init__(self, name=namemethod()):
        self.name = name

The default argument

name=namemethod()

only gets evaluated a single time for the entire class (default arguments always only get evaluated once)

What you probably want to do instead, is use name=None as default value for the name argument. The, in __init__(), you could do something like this:

class Test(object):
    def __init__(self, name=None):
        if name is None:
            name = namemethod()

        self.name = name

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 29 '18 at 17:54

in your code, the name=namemethod() default argument is replaced permanently by a single instance returned by a call to namemethod

Your desired behaviour can be achieved using:

def namemethod():
    return ''.join(random.choice(string.lowercase) for x in range(5))

class Test(object):
    def __init__(self, name=None):
        self.name = name if name is not None else namemethod()

python get new random name for every call of class

2 Answers2