Can you explain what is meant by state in the Python programming language?

In Python, the state of an object or program is the collection of all variable values and data that determine the current position or behavior of the program at a given moment.

For example, the state of an object of a class is stored in its attributes:

class Counter:
    def __init__(self):
        self.count = 0  # object state

    def increment(self):
        self.count += 1

c = Counter()
c.increment()
print(c.count)  # 1 — current state of the object

The state can change during the execution of the program, and it affects how the program will behave further.