Python Data Structures and Algorithms

Inheritance

It is possible to create a new class that modifies the behavior of an existing class through inheritance. This is done by passing the inherited class as an argument in the class definition. It is often used to modify the behavior of existing methods, for example:

    class specialEmployee(Employee):         def hours(self, numHours):             self.owed += numHours * self.rate * 2             return("%.2f hours worked" % numHours)    

An instance of the specialEmployee class is identical to an Employee instance except for the changed hours() method.

For a subclass to define new class variables, it needs to define an __init__() method, as follows:

    class specialEmployee(Employee):         def __init__(self,name,rate, bonus):  Employee.__init__(self, name, rate) #calls ...