Book Image

Python 3 Object-Oriented Programming - Second Edition

By : Dusty Phillips
Book Image

Python 3 Object-Oriented Programming - Second Edition

By: Dusty Phillips

Overview of this book

Python 3 is more versatile and easier to use than ever. It runs on all major platforms in a huge array of use cases. Coding in Python minimizes development time and increases productivity in comparison to other languages. Clean, maintainable code is easy to both read and write using Python's clear, concise syntax. Object-oriented programming is a popular design paradigm in which data and behaviors are encapsulated in such a way that they can be manipulated together. Many modern programming languages utilize the powerful concepts behind object-oriented programming and Python is no exception. Starting with a detailed analysis of object-oriented analysis and design, you will use the Python programming language to clearly grasp key concepts from the object-oriented paradigm. This book fully explains classes, data encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, abstraction, and exceptions with an emphasis on when you can use each principle to develop well-designed software. You'll get an in-depth analysis of many common object-oriented design patterns that are more suitable to Python's unique style. This book will not just teach Python syntax, but will also build your confidence in how to program. You will also learn how to create maintainable applications by studying higher level design patterns. Following this, you'll learn the complexities of string and file manipulation, and how Python distinguishes between binary and textual data. Not one, but two very powerful automated testing systems will be introduced in the book. After you discover the joy of unit testing and just how easy it can be, you'll study higher level libraries such as database connectors and GUI toolkits and learn how they uniquely apply object-oriented principles. You'll learn how these principles will allow you to make greater use of key members of the Python eco-system such as Django and Kivy. This new edition includes all the topics that made Python 3 Object-oriented Programming an instant Packt classic. It's also packed with updated content to reflect recent changes in the core Python library and covers modern third-party packages that were not available on the Python 3 platform when the book was first published.  
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Python 3 Object-oriented Programming Second Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Introduction to the second edition
Preface
Index

Multiple inheritance


Multiple inheritance is a touchy subject. In principle, it's very simple: a subclass that inherits from more than one parent class is able to access functionality from both of them. In practice, this is less useful than it sounds and many expert programmers recommend against using it.

Tip

As a rule of thumb, if you think you need multiple inheritance, you're probably wrong, but if you know you need it, you're probably right.

The simplest and most useful form of multiple inheritance is called a mixin. A mixin is generally a superclass that is not meant to exist on its own, but is meant to be inherited by some other class to provide extra functionality. For example, let's say we wanted to add functionality to our Contact class that allows sending an e-mail to self.email. Sending e-mail is a common task that we might want to use on many other classes. So, we can write a simple mixin class to do the e-mailing for us:

class MailSender:
    def send_mail(self, message):
     ...