I have a parent class and a child class. The parent class needs some predefined class variables to run call(). The objects are not defined in the child class.
Question: What is the most pythonic way to pass the variables when calling super() without changing the parent class.
Example:
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.my_var = 0
def call(self):
return self.my_var + 1
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self):
self.different_var = 1
def call(self):
my_var = 0
super().__call__() # What is the most pythonic way of performing this line
I know I could just make my_var in the child class a class object and it would work, but there must be a better. If not that would be an acceptable answer as well.
Your version is just a mixin. You have to __init__ the super.
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.my_var = 0
def call(self):
return self.my_var + 1
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__() #init super
self.different_var = 1
def call(self):
self.my_var = 50
return super().call() #return call() from super
c = Child()
print(c.call()) #51
Related
In python, how can I setup the Parent class attributes in Child Class constructor.
My Parent class has 2 attributes which set in its constructor:
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.attribute1 = "abc"
self.attribute2 = 1
def afunction():
# something to print attributes"
print(self.attribute1 + self.attribute2)
In my child class, in the construtor, I try to override the attribute1, attribute2 by
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self):
super.attribute1 = "def"
super.attribute2 = 3
But I get error TypeError: can't set attributes of built-in/extension type 'super'
What i want to when x = Child() x.afunction(), I should see it print "def3"
You should use the inheritance right way. Your parent class already have 2 attributes, but you are not exposing them to be parametrized to be instantiated by clients as well as subclasses. You could do this as follows:
class Parent:
def __init__(self, attribute1="abc", attribute2=1):
self.attribute1 = attribute1
self.attribute2 = attribute2
def afunction(self):
print(self.attribute1 + str(self.attribute2))
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self, attribute1="def", attribute2=3):
super().__init__(attribute1, attribute2)
Child().afunction()
Child("test", 3).afunction()
This way you are allowing clients to provide value for your attributes, not reassign them in child. Also exposing attributes to the clients so they can pass them if they need else it uses the default value
To build up on my comment:
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.attribute1 = "abc"
self.attribute2 = 1
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self):
self.attribute1 = "def"
self.attribute2 = 3
c = Child()
In this case, the child is initialize. In the initialization 2 attributes are created with the value def and 3. The attributes are never initialized with the values from the parent class.
Alternatively:
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.attribute1 = "abc"
self.attribute2 = 1
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.attribute1 = "def"
self.attribute2 = 3
c = Child()
This time, the attributes are first initialized during the super() call by calling the function __init__() from the parent class. And then they are overridden.
Which one you prefer depends on your application, but either way, you can create the attribute directly in the child class as they don't belong to one specifically.
Got It In Place Of Super() try Acccesing It With Parent.
And Then Print It I Definitely Say You Will Get Your Answer :'def'
I have a class Parent:
class Parent:
def __init__(self, foo):
self.foo = foo
I then have another class Child which extends Parent. But I want Child to take a pre-existing instance of parent and use this as the parent to inherit from (instead of creating a new instance of Parent with the same constructor parameters).
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self, parent_instance):
""" Do something with parent_instance to set this as the parent instance """
def get_foo(self):
return self.foo
Then I would ideally be able to do:
p = Parent("bar")
c = Child(p)
print(c.get_foo()) # prints "bar"
You could copy the content of the parents's __dict__ to the child's. You can use vars() builtin function to do so, and the dictionary's update() method.
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self, parent_instance):
vars(self).update(vars(parent_instance))
def get_foo(self):
return self.foo
p = Parent("bar")
c = Child(p)
print(c.get_foo())
# prints "bar"
You can use your own constructor - provide a classmethod that takes an instance of a parent.
class Parent:
def __init__(self, foo):
self.foo = foo
class Child(Parent):
def get_foo(self):
return self.foo
#classmethod
def from_parent(cls, parent_instance):
return cls(parent_instance.foo)
p = Parent('bar')
c = Child.from_parent(p)
c.get_foo()
I'm not sure inheritance is the right solution here as it breaks the LSP in the __init__ method.
Maybe parents and children just share a common interface.
I'd prefer something like (python3.8):
from typing import Protocol
class FoeAware(Protocol):
#property
def foe(self):
...
class Parent:
def __init__(self, foe):
self._foe = foe
#property
def foe(self):
return self._foe
class Child:
def __init__(self, parent: FoeAware):
self.parent = parent
#property
def foe(self):
return self.parent.foe
p = Parent("bar")
c = Child(p)
c.foe # bar
The key point is that it takes advantage of polymorphism with a common interface FoeAware, which is preferable to an inheritance tree.
Using getattr() to fetch the attribute from the parent instance
class Parent:
def __init__(self, foo):
self.foo = foo
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self, parent_instance):
self.parent_instance = parent_instance
def get_foo(self):
return self.foo
def __getattr__(self, attr):
return getattr(self.parent_instance, attr)
par = Parent("bar")
ch = Child(par)
print(ch.get_foo())
#prints bar
Here's an example of what I'm trying to do:
class Parent():
def __init__():
self.parent_var = 'ABCD'
x = Child(self) # self would be passing this parent instance
class Child():
def __init__(<some code to pass parent>):
print(self.parent_var)
foo = Parent()
Now I know what you're thinking, why not just pass parent_var itself to the child instance? Well my actual implementation has over 20 class variables in Parent. I don't want to have to manually pass each variable to the __init__ of the Child instance that's instantiated in Parent-- is there a way to make all Parent class variables available to Child?
EDIT - SOLVED:
This is the way I found that works:
class Parent():
def __init__(self):
self.parent_var = 'ABCD' # but there are 20+ class vars in this class, not just one
x = Child(self) # pass this parent instance to child
class Child():
def __init__(self, parent):
for key, val in vars(parent).items():
setattr(self, key, val)
print(self.parent_var) # successfully prints ABCD
foo = Parent()
If you inherit from the parent class all variables will be present in child classes. Use super init in the child to make sure the parent class instantiates.
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.parent_var = 'ABCD'
class Child(Parent):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
child = Child()
print(child.parent_var)
prints:
'ABCD'
You would pass the instance of Parent like you would any value.
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.parent_var = 'ABCD'
x = Child(self)
class Child:
def __init__(self, obj):
print(obj.parent_var)
Found a solution and wanted to post the answer in case anyone who finds this needs it:
class Parent():
def __init__(self):
self.parent_var = "ABCD" # just an example
x = Child(self) # pass this parent instance (this object) to child
class Child():
def __init__(self, parent):
# copies variables from passed-in object to this object
for key, val in vars(parent).items():
setattr(self, key, val)
print(self.parent_var) # successfully prints ABCD
foo = Parent()
In inheritance, most of the time we want to create child classes that inherit from the parent, and in the process of instantiation they have to call the parent constructor. In python we use super for this, and that's great.
I want to do somewhat the opposite: I have a parent class which is a template for a number of child classes. Then I want the child classes to each have a function that allows an instance to clone itself:
class Parent(object):
def __init__(self, ctype, a):
print('This is the parent constructor')
self._ctype = ctype
self._a = a
#property
def a(self):
return self._a
#property
def ctype(self):
return self._ctype
class ChildOne(Parent):
def __init__(self, a):
super(ChildOne, self).__init__('one', a)
print('This is the child One constructor')
self.one = 1
def clone(self):
return ChildOne(self._a)
class ChildTwo(Parent):
def __init__(self, a):
super(ChildTwo, self).__init__('two', a)
print('This is the child Two constructor')
self.two = 2
def clone(self):
return ChildTwo(self._a)
Now, if I create an instance of one of the children, I can clone it:
>>> k = ChildOne(42)
>>> k.ctype
'one'
>>> l = k.clone()
>>> l.a
42
>>> l is k
False
The problem is, the clone method is repeated- and nearly identical- in both sub-classes, except I need to specify explicitly which constructor to call. Is it possible to design a clone method that I define in the parent class, that correctly inherits to the children?
This can be done with:
Code:
class Parent(object):
def clone(self):
return type(self)(self._a)
Test Code:
class Parent(object):
def __init__(self, ctype, a):
print('This is the parent constructor')
self._ctype = ctype
self._a = a
#property
def a(self):
return self._a
#property
def ctype(self):
return self._ctype
def clone(self):
return type(self)(self._a)
class ChildOne(Parent):
def __init__(self, a):
super(ChildOne, self).__init__('one', a)
print('This is the child One constructor')
self.one = 1
class ChildTwo(Parent):
def __init__(self, a):
super(ChildTwo, self).__init__('two', a)
print('This is the child Two constructor')
self.two = 2
k = ChildOne(42)
print(k.ctype)
l = k.clone()
print(l.a)
print(type(l))
Results:
This is the parent constructor
This is the child One constructor
one
This is the parent constructor
This is the child One constructor
42
<class '__main__.ChildOne'>
I'm trying something very basic with Python inheritance:
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.text = 'parent'
def getText(self):
print self.text
class Child1(Parent):
def __init__(self):
self.x = 'x'
class Child2(Parent):
def __init__(self):
self.x = 'x'
if __name__ == "__main__":
parent = Parent()
child1 = Child1()
child2 = Child2()
parent.getText()
child1.getText()
child2.getText()
but I keep getting
Child1 instance has no attribute 'text'
how are variables passed to children?
You need to call the constructor of the parent classes manually - Here, self.text is initialize in Parent constructor which is never called:
class Child1(Parent):
def __init__ (self):
super(Child1, self).__init__ ()
# or Parent.__init__ (self)
self.x = 'x'
your init function needs to call the parent init
class Child1(Parent):
def __init__(self):
self.x = 'x'
Parent.__init__(self)
In python when you override a function which was supposed to be inherited you override all of it, __init__ is no exception. You should call the functions super method to use the base initializer, or implement the attribute in the constructor you have rewrote.
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.text = 'parent'
def getText(self):
print self.text
class Child1(Parent):
def __init__(self):
super(Child1, self).__init__()
self.x = 'x'
child1.getText()
Should work now.
Since python 3.6, we can now use the __init_subclass__ function, which is called automatically before __init__ of the Child.
class Parent:
def __init__(self):
self.text = 'parent'
def __init_subclass__(self):
Parent.__init__(self)
def getText(self):
print(self.text)
class Child1(Parent): pass
class Child2(Parent): pass
classes = [Parent(), Child1(), Child2()]
for item in classes:
item.getText()
output
parent
parent
parent
If you use your Parent class more as a "interface", here is another example.
class Animal():
def __init_subclass__(self, sound):
self.sound = sound
def make_sound(self):
print(self.sound)
class Cat(Animal, sound='meow'): pass
class Dog(Animal, sound='woof'): pass
animals = [Cat(), Dog()]
for animal in animals:
animal.make_sound()
output
meow
woof