Corey Richardson wrote:
Do all classes need an __init__() method? I have classes that look much
like this one starts out:
class GenerateXML(object):
"""Defines methods to be inherited for StaticXML and AnimationXML"""
def __init__(self):
pass
I would rather not do that. Code without it runs fine, but will there be
any negative consequences down the road? Does object define an __init__
method for me?
You don't need to define an __init__ if you don't need one. A
placeholder __init__ that does nothing, as above, is a waste of space.
object includes an __init__ method that not only does nothing, but
ignores any arguments you pass to it:
>>> object.__init__
<slot wrapper '__init__' of 'object' objects>
>>> object.__init__(1, 2, 3)
>>>
In Python 2.x, you can have "old-style" classes that don't inherit from
object. They too don't need an __init__:
>>> class Old: # *don't* inherit from object
... pass
...
>>> o = Old()
>>>
--
Steven
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