CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpolymorphism
Stryker
Stryker

Reputation: 6130

How to refactor polymorphic method to keep code DRY

Here is an example of the code I am working with while learning polymorphic behaviour in python. My question is: Why do I have to declare the very similar function of show_affection twice? Why not check if the caller (the instance calling the method) and if it is Dog, do one thing, if it is a cat do another.

As you can see in the example code below, show_affection is defined in both Cat and Dog classes which inherit from Animal.

Why not declare show_affection in the Animal Class but I am not sure how to check for the caller. like

def show_affection(self):

    If caller is the Dog instance:
        print("{0}.barks".format(self.name))
    else:
        print("{0}.wags tail".format(self.name))

Here is the what I have

class Animal(object):

    def __init__(self, name):

        self.name = name
    def eat(self, food):
        print("{0} eats {1}".format(self.name, food))

class Dog(Animal):


    def fetch(self, thing):
        print("{0} goes after the {1}".format(self.name, thing))
    def show_affection(self):
        print("{0} wags tail".format(self.name))


class Cat(Animal):

    def swatstring(self):
        print("{0} shreds the string".format(self.name))

    def show_affection(self):
        print("{0} purrs".format(self.name))


for a in (Dog('rover'), Cat('fluffy'), Cat('precious'), Dog('Scout')):
    a.show_affection()

a.eat('bananas')

Upvotes: 0

Views: 53

Answers (1)

augurar
augurar

Reputation: 13096

This is not an example of "repeating yourself", because Cat.show_affection() does something different from Dog.show_affection(). If the two methods were the same, then you could avoid repetition by defining the implementation once in Animal. But since you want to have different behaviors for Cat and Dog, the correct way to do it is to implement the method in each class.

In general:

  • Cat-specific behaviors should be defined in Cat.
  • Dog-specific behaviors should be defined in Dog.
  • Behaviors that apply to all animals should be defined in Animal.

Upvotes: 1

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