Python OOP

Question 1

How does inheritance work in python?

Answer 1

• Base and Derived Classes: Inheritance in Python involves a base (or parent) class and a derived (or child) class. The derived class inherits attributes and behaviors from the base class, allowing for code reuse and the creation of more specialized classes.
• Method Overriding: Derived classes can override or extend methods from the base class. When a method is called on a derived class instance, Python first looks for the method in the derived class and then in the base class if it’s not found.
• Multiple Inheritance: Python supports multiple inheritance, where a derived class can inherit from more than one base class. The method resolution order (MRO) determines the order in which base classes are considered when accessing methods.
• Super Function: The super() function allows derived classes to call methods from their base classes, enabling cooperative multiple inheritance and ensuring that all base class methods are called in the correct order.
• Polymorphism: Inheritance enables polymorphism, where objects of different classes can be treated as objects of a common base class. This allows for more flexible and generic code that can work with objects of various classes sharing a common interface.

Question 2

How do you access parent members in the child class?

Answer 2

• Direct Access: Child classes can directly access public members (attributes and methods) of the parent class using the dot notation, as long as those members are not overridden in the child class.
• Super Function: The super() function allows child classes to access parent class members, especially when overriding methods. It’s commonly used in the constructor (__init__) to initialize the parent class.
• Method Resolution Order (MRO): In multiple inheritance, the MRO determines the order in which parent classes are accessed. You can view the MRO using the mro() method or the __mro__ attribute of a class.
• Private and Protected Members: Private members (prefixed with double underscores) are not directly accessible from child classes. Protected members (prefixed with a single underscore) are conventionally meant for internal use but can still be accessed from child classes.
• Explicit Parent Class Name: You can also access parent class members by explicitly using the parent class name, although this approach is less flexible and not recommended for multiple inheritance scenarios.

Question 3

What is init method in python?

Answer 3

The __init__ method in Python is a special method called a constructor, which is automatically called when an object of a class is created. It is used to initialize the attributes of the object and perform any setup that is required when the object is instantiated. The __init__ method can accept any number of arguments, which can be used to set the initial values of the object’s attributes. It is defined within a class and has the special name __init__ (with double underscores before and after the word “init”).

Question 4

How will you check if a class is a child of another class?

Answer 4

This is done by using a method called issubclass() provided by python. The method tells us if any class is a child of another class by returning true or false accordingly.

We can check if an object is an instance of a class by making use of isinstance() method