Class constants in python

Class constants in python

Since Horse is a subclass of Animal, you can just change

print(Animal.SIZES[1])

with

print(self.SIZES[1])

Still, you need to remember that SIZES[1] means big, so probably you could improve your code by doing something like:

class Animal:
    SIZE_HUGE=Huge
    SIZE_BIG=Big
    SIZE_MEDIUM=Medium
    SIZE_SMALL=Small

class Horse(Animal):
    def printSize(self):
        print(self.SIZE_BIG)

Alternatively, you could create intermediate classes: HugeAnimal, BigAnimal, and so on. That would be especially helpful if each animal class will contain different logic.

You can get to SIZES by means of self.SIZES (in an instance method) or cls.SIZES (in a class method).

In any case, you will have to be explicit about where to find SIZES. An alternative is to put SIZES in the module containing the classes, but then you need to define all classes in a single module.

Class constants in python

class Animal:
    HUGE = Huge
    BIG = Big

class Horse:
    def printSize(self):
        print(Animal.HUGE)