bad-staticmethod-argument (PLW0211)

Derived from the Pylint linter.

This rule is unstable and in preview. The --preview flag is required for use.

What it does

Checks for static methods that use self or cls as their first argument.

Why is this bad?

PEP 8 recommends the use of self and cls as the first arguments for instance methods and class methods, respectively. Naming the first argument of a static method as self or cls can be misleading, as static methods do not receive an instance or class reference as their first argument.

Example

class Wolf:
    @staticmethod
    def eat(self):
        pass

Use instead:

class Wolf:
    @staticmethod
    def eat(sheep):
        pass