[Python-Dev] Problem with super() usage (original) (raw)

Scott Dial scott+python-dev at scottdial.com
Tue Jul 18 15:10:11 CEST 2006

Greg Ewing wrote:

Guido van Rossum wrote:

In the world where cooperative multiple inheritance originated (C++), this would be a static error. I wasn't aware that C++ had anything resembling super(). Is it a recent addition to the language?

It is much more explicit, but you call the function from the superclass's namespace:

class B : public A { public: void m(void) { A::m(); // The call to my super }; };

C++ has no concept of MRO, so "super()" would be completely ambiguous. In fact, if you try to replicate your code in C++ using a generic M class (which defines a dummy m method), you'll get such an error from your compiler: "M' is an ambiguous base of C'"

This is very much a dynamic language quirk that you can call out to a function that may or may not exist, and we should avoid comparing it to other languages which don't allow it. I agree with Guido that in python, the reasonable fix is to have a superclass which defines an empty method.

-- Scott Dial scott at scottdial.com scodial at indiana.edu

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