Overriding methods in Python

Method overriding is a feature of object-oriented programming that allows a subclass to provide its own implementation of a method that is already defined in its superclass. This allows the subclass to change the behavior of the method without modifying the superclass’s implementation.

In Python, method overriding is achieved by simply defining a method with the same name as the one in the superclass. When the method is called on an instance of the subclass, the subclass’s implementation of the method will be used.

Here’s an example:

class Shape:
    def draw(self):
        print("Drawing a shape")
        
class Rectangle(Shape):
    def draw(self):
        print("Drawing a rectangle")
        
shape = Shape()
shape.draw()  # Output: Drawing a shape

rectangle = Rectangle()
rectangle.draw()  # Output: Drawing a rectangle

In this example, we have a superclass called Shape with a draw method that simply prints “Drawing a shape”. We also have a subclass called Rectangle that inherits from Shape and overrides the draw method to print “Drawing a rectangle”.

When we create an instance of Shape and call the draw method, the output is “Drawing a shape”. However, when we create an instance of Rectangle and call the draw method, the output is “Drawing a rectangle”. This is because the Rectangle class has overridden the draw method from the Shape class.

Method overriding is useful when you want to change the behavior of a method in a subclass without modifying the implementation in the superclass. This allows you to create specialized behavior for a specific class or group of classes without affecting the behavior of other classes.

For example, consider a banking application that has a BankAccount class with a withdraw method that allows customers to withdraw money from their account. You might have a subclass called SavingsAccount that inherits from BankAccount and overrides the withdraw method to enforce a limit on the number of withdrawals per month. This allows you to provide specialized behavior for savings accounts without affecting the behavior of other types of bank accounts.