↑ All examplesPython docs reference

Types

Runtime Type Checks

type, isinstance, and issubclass inspect runtime relationships.

type() reports the exact runtime class. A Dog instance is not exactly an Animal instance.

Source

class Animal:
    pass

class Dog(Animal):
    pass

pet = Dog()
print(type(pet).__name__)
print(type(pet) is Animal)

Output

Dog
False
isinstance(x, T)TrueFalse
isinstance and issubclass ask the runtime; the answer is a bool, not a static type refinement.

isinstance() accepts subclasses, which is usually what API boundaries want.

Source

print(isinstance(pet, Dog))
print(isinstance(pet, Animal))

Output

True
True

issubclass() checks class relationships rather than individual objects.

Source

print(issubclass(Dog, Animal))

Output

True

Notes

See also

Run the complete example

Example code

Expected output

Dog
False
True
True

Execution time appears here after you run the example.