> OK, but that was just your example :-) Here is some ugly quick code > which might show you how to meet you needs: > > class JohnsMultiInitClass: > def __init__(self, first, second): > if type(first) == type(second) == str: > self.string_init(first, second) > if type(first) == type(second) == int: > self.int_init(first, second)
> getting an handle on OOP, and dangerous only in Python. But, I suspect > that this is not the Python way to do this sort of thing. (Perhaps > people with C++ experience can weigh in to confirm or deny.) This is an acceptable way of doing it when needed, but one thing to note about Python is that it is rarely needed - at least, much less commonly than in C++/Java. The reason for this is that C++ is statically typed so you are limited in what you can do to the parameters of a method based on it's type, in Python you can often use the same method for a wide variety of types because the binding is done at runtime. So long as the input argument responds to the messages sent to it, it can be used. Another way that multiple constructors etc can be simlified (and this is true in C++ too, but for some reason not used as much) is via default arguments. So you can do: def foo(anInt = 1, aFloat = 2.0, aString= '3'): pass foo() #--> foo(1,2.0,'3') foo(42) #--> foo(42,2.0,'3') foo(14,5.7) #--> foo(14,5.7,'3') foo(7,8.0,'b') #--> foo(7,8.0,'b') So from the caller's perspective there are 4 possible signatures but only one function definiton. As I said, you can do this in C++ too but it's less commonly seen, at least in my experience. Finally the Python mechanisms for multiple arguments can be used and in particular the keywords technique can provide for multiple input values/types. So between all the various options you can do any of the things C++/Java does and often with much less code! Alan G Author of the Learn to Program web tutor http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
