How do I only inherit some variables from a super class in Python

Question

I am trying to make a subclass, Square, from a superclass, Shape.

class Shape :

     def __init__ (self, x, y) :
          self.x = x
          self.y = y
          self.description = "This shape has not been described yet"
      
     def area (self) :
          return self.x * self.y

     def describe (self, text) :
          self.description = text

I have tried

class Square (Shape) :

     def __init__ (self, x) :
          self.x = x
          self.y = x
          self.description = "This shape has not been described yet"

which seems to work, but the only thing that actually changes in Square is self.y = x, so I wonder if I could do the same thing without having to write self.x and self.description again.

(I tried doing something like this:

class Square (Shape) :

     def __init__ (self, x) :
          self.y = x
          super().__init__()

but, when I create a Square object, a type error occurs: TypeError: init() missing 2 required positional arguments: 'x' and 'y')

Samwise · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-07 15:11:16Z

2

A Square is a Shape whose x and y are the same. Hence:

class Square(Shape):
    def __init__(self, x):
        super().__init__(x, x)

You just need to call Shape.__init__(self, x, y) with your x as both the x and y parameters.

answered Jun 7, 2021 at 15:11

Samwise

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Comments

Saankhya Mondal · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-07 15:13:06Z

0

Just call the super function inside __init__. Put both the arguments equal to x.

class Square(Shape):
    def __init__(self, x):
        super().__init__(x, x)

answered Jun 7, 2021 at 15:13

Saankhya Mondal

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