The super() function is a built-in function in both Python and Java, but it serves slightly different purposes in each language. In both contexts, it’s related to inheritance and allows you to access or call methods from a parent class.

python’s super()

In Python, super() is primarily used to call methods (often __init__(), the constructor) from a parent class. It helps avoid explicitly naming the base class, which is especially useful in multiple inheritance scenarios [[1]].

“The point of super is not to avoid writing the parent…” [[1]]

One common use case is within the __init__() method of a subclass. By calling super().__init__(), the subclass ensures that the parent class’s initialization logic is also executed. This is crucial for setting up inherited attributes and ensuring proper object construction.

Java’s super()

in Java, super() is used to call the superclass constructor and to refer to members (fields or methods) of the superclass [[2]]. When used as super(), it calls the constructor of the parent class.You can also use super.methodName() to call a specific method from the parent class.

For example, if you have a class Box with a constructor that initializes width, height, and depth, a subclass can call super(width, height, depth) to initialize these values using the parent class’s constructor [[2]].