>>> root = Tkinter.Tk()
>>> var = Tkinter.IntVar()
>>> chk = Tkinter.Checkbutton(root, text='foo', variable=var)
>>> chk.pack(side=Tkinter.LEFT)
>>> var.get()  #unchecked
0
>>> var.get()  #checked
1

>>> import tkinter
>>> from tkinter import ttk
>>> tkwindow = tkinter.Tk()
>>> chk = ttk.Checkbutton(tkwindow, text="foo")
>>> chk.grid(column=0, row=0)

>>> print(chk.state())  # half-checked
('alternate',)
>>> print(chk.state())  # checked
('selected',)
>>> print(chk.state())  # not checked
()

>>> chk.state(['selected'])  # check the checkbox
>>> chk.state(['!selected']) # clear the checkbox
>>> chk.state(['disabled'])  # disable the checkbox
>>> chk.state(['!disabled','selected']) # enable the checkbox and put a check in it!

>>> chk.state(['!alternate'])

>>> chk.instate(['selected'])  #returns True or False