Understanding the super() function in Python

Image from Alex Chumak

In Python, the super() function is used to refer to the parent class of a subclass. It allows you to access methods and properties of the parent class, and can be especially useful when you want to override a method defined in the parent class.

Here is the basic syntax for using the super() function in Python:

class SubClass(SuperClass):
    def method(self):
        super().method()

Now, let’s look at en example:

class Rectangle:
    def __init__(self, width, height):
        self.width = width
        self.height = height
    
    def area(self):
        return self.width * self.height
    
    def perimeter(self):
        return 2 * (self.width + self.height)

class Square(Rectangle):
    def __init__(self, side_length):
        super().__init__(side_length, side_length)

square_obj = Square(5)
print('area:', square_obj.area()) # area: 25
print('perimeter:', square_obj.perimeter()) # perimeter: 20

In this example, the Square class is a subclass of the Rectangle class. The Square class has its own __init__ method, but it also wants to make use of the __init__ method of the Rectangle class to set the width and height attributes. To do this, it calls super().__init__(side_length, side_length), which calls the __init__ method of the Rectangle class and passes it the side_length argument twice (since a square has equal sides).

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