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Overloading Constructors

The document discusses overloading constructors in Python. It explains that Python does not support constructor overloading like other languages. Several alternatives are proposed, including using default arguments, keyword arguments, static methods, and class methods to simulate overloaded constructors. The top response recommends using default arguments to accommodate optional fields, by setting missing fields to None as the default value.

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Marcel Chis
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40 views2 pages

Overloading Constructors

The document discusses overloading constructors in Python. It explains that Python does not support constructor overloading like other languages. Several alternatives are proposed, including using default arguments, keyword arguments, static methods, and class methods to simulate overloaded constructors. The top response recommends using default arguments to accommodate optional fields, by setting missing fields to None as the default value.

Uploaded by

Marcel Chis
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
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Overloading constructors

Overloading constructors
Hi r/Python I'm working on a script to load a number of datasets into my field format. So the submitted data
sets may not or may not have all the fields available in my dataset. So I would like to make overloaded
constructors similar to a method in Java, to accommodate the variability in the field information they have.

So something like this, although I know I can't actually do this.

def __init__(field1):
self.field1 = field1

def__init__(filed1, field2):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2

def__init__(field1, field2, field3):


self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
self.field3 = field3

Thanks

5 comments
33% Upvoted
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level 1
Kopachris
3 points · 4 years ago

Python doesn't do function overloading like other languages do. Do as /u/anossov said and use default
arguments.

level 1
[deleted]
3 points · 4 years ago

In addition to the other answer, Python also has keyword arguments.

def func (opt, **kwargs):


print(kwargs)
# kwargs is a regular dictionary so
# 'if a in kwargs:'
# or
# a = kwargs.get(a, None)
# are both OK

func (12, a=1, b=2)


level 1
anossov
2 points · 4 years ago

Do missing fields have default values? If so, default arguments make the most sense:

def__init__(field1, field2=None, field3=None):


self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2 # will be set to None if not passed
self.field3 = field3 # will be set to None if not passed

1
Overloading constructors

level 1

bheklilr
0 points · 4 years ago

A common implementation (i.e. one used in the standard library) is to use staticmethods for multiple
constructors (which admittedly isn't quite the same as overloaded constructors):

class MyClass(object):
# The default constructor
def __init__(self, field1, field2, field3):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
self.field3 = field3

@staticmethod
def only_field1(field1):
return MyClass(field1, None, None)

@staticmethod
def missing_field3(field1, field2):
return MyClass(field1, field2, None)

Then you would just have

example1 = MyClass('field1', 'field2', 'field3')


example2 = MyClass.missing_field3('field1', 'field2')
example3 = MyClass.only_field1('field1')

You can see this in particular with the datetime.datetime class, since it has a default constructor taking a
time representation, but there's also datetime.now and datetime.today where both have unique behavior.

In your case, since you just have 1, 2 or 3 fields you can get away with just using keyword arguments with
default values:

class MyClass(object):
def __init__(self, field1, field2=None, field3=None):
self.field1 = field1
self.field2 = field2
self.field3 = field3
level 2
donnieod
3 points · 4 years ago

I think that classmethod is the preferred way of doing this, if you look up datetime.today() and
datetime.now() they are classmethods not staticmethods. So your alternate constructors would be:

@classmethod
def only_field1(cls, field1):
return cls(field1, None, None)

@classmethod
def missing_fiels3(cls, field1, field2):
return cls(field1, field2, None)

This has the advantage of not locking in the class name so sub-classing is possible.

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