super() is a special use of the super keyword where you call a parameterless parent constructor. In general, the super keyword can be used to call overridden methods, access hidden fields or invoke a superclass's constructor. The one without super hard-codes its parent's method - thus is has restricted the behavior of its method, and subclasses cannot inject functionality in the call chain.

Context Explanation

The one with super has greater flexibility. The call chain for the methods can be intercepted and functionality injected. super() lets you avoid referring to the base class explicitly, which can be nice. But the main advantage comes with multiple inheritance, where all sorts of fun stuff can happen.

Insight Material

Thirdly, when you call super() you do not need to specify what the super is, as that is inherent in the class definition for Child. Below is a fixed version of your code which should perform as you expect. In fact, multiple inheritance is the only case where super() is of any use. I would not recommend using it with classes using linear inheritance, where it's just useless overhead. A diretiva super, sem parênteses, permite ainda invocar métodos da classe que foi derivada através da seguinte syntax.

Final Conclusion

super.metodo(); Isto é útil nos casos em que faças override (sobrescrevas) um método da classe pai e desejas invocar o método original. I'm currently learning about class inheritance in my Java course and I don't understand when to use the super() call? Edit: I found this example of code where super.variable is used: class A { ... The implicit __class__ used by super does not exist at this point. Thus, referencing the superclass by the hardcoded name, as one had to do prior to super in Python2 will work - and is the best way to achieve what you want there.