why super always need to be called in the init

Question

See the screenshot of the code below. In the code block, it can be seen from the class definition part that the ResNet is a subclass of nn.Module, and when we define the __init__ function, we still call the super().__init__(). I am really confused about that, I have already look a stack overflow explanation but the accept answer is too brief so I don't get it (for example, if super().__init__() always need to be called why python don't just integrate it inside the __init__()), I was hoping a more easy to understand explanation with some examples.

If you want to run the code of the parent classes' `__init__`, then you call `super().__init__`. If you do not want to run the code of the parent classes' `__init__`, then you do not call `super().__init__`. — timgeb, Feb 04 '22 at 10:44
"always need to be called" <-- nope. It only needs to be called if you want it to. If for some reason you require the same class but a different __init__ you simply don't call the super for it. Same goes for every method on the class btw. It also ties in with the "explicit over implicit" python idiom. — JustLudo, Feb 04 '22 at 11:57

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 04 '22 at 14:26

The Python super() method lets you access methods from a parent class from within a child class. In other words this will work only if you are working in a child class inherited from another. This helps reduce repetition in your code. super() does not accept any arguments.

class Parent():
  def __init__(self, name):
    self.hair = 'blonde'
    self.full_name = name + ' kurt'

class Child(Parent):
  def __init__(self, brand):
    super().__init__('franz')
    print(self.fullname) # franz kurt

    # inherited blonde but the phenotype of the hair in child is different 
    # so the attribute was overwrited
    self.hair = 'dark hair'

One core feature of object-oriented programming languages like Python is inheritance. Inheritance is when a new class uses code from another class to create the new class.

When you’re inheriting classes, you may want to gain access to methods from a parent class. That’s where the super() function comes in.

Reference: https://realpython.com/python-super/

why super always need to be called in the __init__

1 Answers1

why super always need to be called in the init