[python] Python extending with - using super() Python 3 vs Python 2

Originally I wanted to ask this question, but then I found it was already thought of before...

Googling around I found this example of extending configparser. The following works with Python 3:

$ python3
Python 3.2.3rc2 (default, Mar 21 2012, 06:59:51) 
[GCC 4.6.3] on linux2
>>> from configparser import  SafeConfigParser
>>> class AmritaConfigParser(SafeConfigParser):
...     def __init__(self):
...         super().__init__()
... 
>>> cfg = AmritaConfigParser()

But not with Python 2:

>>> class AmritaConfigParser(SafeConfigParser):
...       def __init__(self):
...           super(SafeConfigParser).init()
... 
>>> cfg = AmritaConfigParser()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "<stdin>", line 3, in __init__
TypeError: must be type, not classob

Then I read a little bit on Python New Class vs. Old Class styles (e.g. here. And now I am wondering, I can do:

class MyConfigParser(ConfigParser.ConfigParser):
      def Write(self, fp):
          """override the module's original write funcition"""
          ....
      def MyWrite(self, fp):
          """Define new function and inherit all others"""

But, shouldn't I call init? Is this in Python 2 the equivalent:

 class AmritaConfigParser(ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser):
    #def __init__(self):
    #    super().__init__() # Python3 syntax, or rather, new style class syntax ...
    #
    # is this the equivalent of the above ? 
    def __init__(self):
        ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser.__init__(self)

In short, they are equivalent. Let's have a history view:

(1) at first, the function looks like this.

    class MySubClass(MySuperClass):
        def __init__(self):
            MySuperClass.__init__(self)

(2) to make code more abstract (and more portable). A common method to get Super-Class is invented like:

    super(<class>, <instance>)

And init function can be:

    class MySubClassBetter(MySuperClass):
        def __init__(self):
            super(MySubClassBetter, self).__init__()

However requiring an explicit passing of both the class and instance break the DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) rule a bit.

(3) in V3. It is more smart,

    super()

is enough in most case. You can refer to http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3135/

Another python3 implementation that involves the use of Abstract classes with super(). You should remember that

super().__init__(name, 10)

has the same effect as

Person.__init__(self, name, 10)

Remember there's a hidden 'self' in super(), So the same object passes on to the superclass init method and the attributes are added to the object that called it. Hence super()gets translated to Person and then if you include the hidden self, you get the above code frag.

from abc import ABCMeta, abstractmethod
class Person(metaclass=ABCMeta):
    name = ""
    age = 0

    def __init__(self, personName, personAge):
        self.name = personName
        self.age = personAge

    @abstractmethod
    def showName(self):
        pass

    @abstractmethod
    def showAge(self):
        pass


class Man(Person):

    def __init__(self, name, height):
        self.height = height
        # Person.__init__(self, name, 10)
        super().__init__(name, 10)  # same as Person.__init__(self, name, 10)
        # basically used to call the superclass init . This is used incase you want to call subclass init
        # and then also call superclass's init.
        # Since there's a hidden self in the super's parameters, when it's is called,
        # the superclasses attributes are a part of the same object that was sent out in the super() method

    def showIdentity(self):
        return self.name, self.age, self.height

    def showName(self):
        pass

    def showAge(self):
        pass


a = Man("piyush", "179")
print(a.showIdentity())

In a single inheritance case (when you subclass one class only), your new class inherits methods of the base class. This includes __init__. So if you don't define it in your class, you will get the one from the base.

Things start being complicated if you introduce multiple inheritance (subclassing more than one class at a time). This is because if more than one base class has __init__, your class will inherit the first one only.

In such cases, you should really use super if you can, I'll explain why. But not always you can. The problem is that all your base classes must also use it (and their base classes as well -- the whole tree).

If that is the case, then this will also work correctly (in Python 3 but you could rework it into Python 2 -- it also has super):

class A:
    def __init__(self):
        print('A')
        super().__init__()

class B:
    def __init__(self):
        print('B')
        super().__init__()

class C(A, B):
    pass

C()
#prints:
#A
#B

Notice how both base classes use super even though they don't have their own base classes.

What super does is: it calls the method from the next class in MRO (method resolution order). The MRO for C is: (C, A, B, object). You can print C.__mro__ to see it.

So, C inherits __init__ from A and super in A.__init__ calls B.__init__ (B follows A in MRO).

So by doing nothing in C, you end up calling both, which is what you want.

Now if you were not using super, you would end up inheriting A.__init__ (as before) but this time there's nothing that would call B.__init__ for you.

class A:
    def __init__(self):
        print('A')

class B:
    def __init__(self):
        print('B')

class C(A, B):
    pass

C()
#prints:
#A

To fix that you have to define C.__init__:

class C(A, B):
    def __init__(self):
        A.__init__(self)
        B.__init__(self)

The problem with that is that in more complicated MI trees, __init__ methods of some classes may end up being called more than once whereas super/MRO guarantee that they're called just once.

Just to have a simple and complete example for Python 3, which most people seem to be using now.

class MySuper(object):
    def __init__(self,a):
        self.a = a

class MySub(MySuper):
    def __init__(self,a,b):
        self.b = b
        super().__init__(a)

my_sub = MySub(42,'chickenman')
print(my_sub.a)
print(my_sub.b)

gives

42
chickenman