all Python 3OOPfunction

super()

inheritance

Returns a proxy object for the parent class. Used to call the parent's methods without naming it explicitly.

Syntax

super().__init__(...)
super().method(...)
super(type, obj_or_type)

super() doesn't call "the parent" literally — it forwards to the next class in the MRO (method resolution order), which under multiple inheritance may not be the base you wrote in the class header. Forget to call super().__init__() and the parent's initialization silently never runs, leaving some attributes unset.

Examples

class Animal:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
class Dog(Animal):
    def __init__(self, name, breed):
        super().__init__(name)
        self.breed = breed
d = Dog('Rex', 'Lab')
print(d.name, d.breed)  # → Rex Lab

class Base:
    def greet(self):
        return 'Hello from Base'
class Child(Base):
    def greet(self):
        return super().greet() + ' and Child'
print(Child().greet())  # → Hello from Base and Child

class LoggedList(list):
    def append(self, item):
        print(f'Adding {item}')
        super().append(item)
ll = LoggedList()
ll.append(1)  # → Adding 1
print(ll)  # → [1]

# Множественное наследование: super() идёт по MRO, а не к «родителю»
class A:
    def __init__(self):
        print('A')
class B(A):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        print('B')
class C(A):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        print('C')
class D(B, C):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        print('D')
D()  # → A / C / B / D
print([k.__name__ for k in D.__mro__])  # → ['D', 'B', 'C', 'A', 'object']

See also

Common errors

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