Python From Scratch

Python Inheritance & Iterators

Lesson 14 Content
• Python Inheritance
• Create a Parent Class
• Create a Child Class
• Add the __init__() Function
• Use the super() Function
• Add Properties
• Add Methods

• Python Iterators
• Iterator vs Iterable
• Looping Through an Iterator
• Create an Iterator
• StopIteration
 Python Inheritance
Python Inheritance
Inheritance allows us to define a class that inherits all the methods and properties from another class.
Parent class is the class being inherited from, also called base class.
Child class is the class that inherits from another class, also called derived class.

Create a Parent Class

Any class can be a parent class, so the syntax is the same as creating any other class:
Example
Create a class named Person, with firstname and lastname properties, and a printname method:
class Person:
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
self.firstname = fname
self.lastname = lname

def printname(self):
print(self.firstname, self.lastname)

#Use the Person class to create an object, and then execute the printname method:

x = Person("John", "Doe")
x.printname()

Create a Child Class

To create a class that inherits the functionality from another class, send the parent class as a parameter
when creating the child class:
Example
Create a class named Student, which will inherit the properties and methods from the Person class:
class Student(Person):
pass

Note: Use the pass keyword when you do not want to add any other properties or methods to the class.

Now the Student class has the same properties and methods as the Person class.
Example
Use the Student class to create an object, and then execute the printname method:
x = Student("Mike", "Olsen")
x.printname()
Add the __init__() Function
So far we have created a child class that inherits the properties and methods from its parent.
We want to add the __init__() function to the child class (instead of the pass keyword).
Note: The __init__() function is called automatically every time the class is being used to create a new
object.
Example
Add the __init__() function to the Student class:
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
#add properties etc.

When you add the __init__() function, the child class will no longer inherit the parent's __init__() function.
Note: The child's __init__() function overrides the inheritance of the parent's __init__() function.
To keep the inheritance of the parent's __init__() function, add a call to the parent's __init__() function:
Example
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
Person.__init__(self, fname, lname)

Now we have successfully added the __init__() function, and kept the inheritance of the parent class,
and we are ready to add functionality in the __init__() function.

Use the super() Function

Python also has a super() function that will make the child class inherit all the methods and properties
from its parent:
Example
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
super().__init__(fname, lname)

By using the super() function, you do not have to use the name of the parent element, it will
automatically inherit the methods and properties from its parent.
Add Properties
Example
Add a property called graduationyear to the Student class:
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = 2019
In the example below, the year 2019 should be a variable, and passed into the Student class when
creating student objects. To do so, add another parameter in the __init__() function:
Example
Add a year parameter, and pass the correct year when creating objects:
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname, year):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = year

x = Student("Mike", "Olsen", 2019)

Add Methods
Example
Add a method called welcome to the Student class:
class Student(Person):
def __init__(self, fname, lname, year):
super().__init__(fname, lname)
self.graduationyear = year

def welcome(self):
print("Welcome", self.firstname, self.lastname, "to the class of",
self.graduationyear)

If you add a method in the child class with the same name as a function in the parent class, the
inheritance of the parent method will be overridden.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
What is the correct syntax to create a class named Student that will inherit properties and methods
from a class named Person?
class :
 Python Iterators
Python Iterators
An iterator is an object that contains a countable number of values.
An iterator is an object that can be iterated upon, meaning that you can traverse through all the values.
Technically, in Python, an iterator is an object which implements the iterator protocol, which consist of
the methods __iter__() and __next__().
Iterator vs Iterable
Lists, tuples, dictionaries, and sets are all iterable objects. They are iterable containers which you can
get an iterator from.
All these objects have a iter() method which is used to get an iterator:
Example
Return an iterator from a tuple, and print each value:
mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
myit = iter(mytuple)

print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))

Even strings are iterable objects, and can return an iterator:

Example
Strings are also iterable objects, containing a sequence of characters:
mystr = "banana"
myit = iter(mystr)

print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))
print(next(myit))

Looping Through an Iterator

We can also use a for loop to iterate through an iterable object:
Example
Iterate the values of a tuple:
mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

for x in mytuple:
print(x)

Example
Iterate the characters of a string:
mystr = "banana"

for x in mystr:
print(x)

The for loop actually creates an iterator object and executes the next() method for each loop.
Create an Iterator
To create an object/class as an iterator you have to implement the methods __iter__() and __next__() to
your object.
As you have learned in the Python Classes/Objects chapter, all classes have a function called __init__(),
which allows you to do some initializing when the object is being created.
The __iter__() method acts similar, you can do operations (initializing etc.), but must always return the
iterator object itself.
The __next__() method also allows you to do operations, and must return the next item in the sequence.
Example
Create an iterator that returns numbers, starting with 1, and each sequence will increase by one
(returning 1,2,3,4,5 etc.):
class MyNumbers:
def __iter__(self):
self.a = 1
return self
def __next__(self):
x = self.a
self.a += 1
return x
myclass = MyNumbers()
myiter = iter(myclass)
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
print(next(myiter))
StopIteration
The example above would continue forever if you had enough next() statements, or if it was used in
a for loop.
To prevent the iteration to go on forever, we can use the StopIteration statement.
In the __next__() method, we can add a terminating condition to raise an error if the iteration is done a
specified number of times:
Example
Stop after 20 iterations:
class MyNumbers:
def __iter__(self):
self.a = 1
return self
def __next__(self):
if self.a <= 20:
x = self.a
self.a += 1
return x
else:
raise StopIteration
myclass = MyNumbers()
myiter = iter(myclass)
for x in myiter:
print(x)