Question

I have two classes in python

1. Drunk
2. Usual Drunk

The usual drunk class inherits from the drunk and provides a new implementation for its move method as shown below

class Drunk:
    def __init__(self,name):
        self.name = name

    def move(self,field,cp,dist=1):
        if field.getDrunk().name!= self.name:
            raise ValueError('Drunk not in the field!')
        for i in range(dist):   
            #pt = CompassPt(random.choice(CompassPt.possibles))
            field.move(cp,1)


class UsualDrunk(Drunk):
    def move(self,field,dist=1):
        cp = random.choice(CompassPt.possibles)
        Drunk.move(self,field,CompassPt(cp),dist)

Now the usual drunk class has two methods named move but with different parameters.

So in this scenario is it overriding or overloading?

Answer 1

It’s overriding. Python does not support overloading.

That said, overriding a method with one that accepts different arguments, especially when it accepts fewer arguments than the base class method, is a Bad Idea. Consider:

some_drunk.move(field, cp)

If some_drunk is a regular Drunk, this works. But if it’s a UsualDrunk, it’ll pass the value of cp to the dist parameter, which is probably not what was intended.