#!/usr/bin/pythonclass Parent(object):        # define parent classparentAttr = 100def __init__(self):print "Calling parent constructor"def parentMethod(self):print 'Calling parent method'def setAttr(self, attr):Parent.parentAttr = attrdef getAttr(self):print "Parent attribute :", Parent.parentAttrclass Child(Parent): # define child classdef __init__(self):print "Calling child constructor"def childMethod(self):print 'Calling child method'c = Child()          # instance of child

I have called created an instance of the Child class here.It doesn't seem to call the constructor of the parent class.The output looks like shown below.

Calling child constructor

In C++ for example when you call the constructor of a derived class the base class constructor get called first.Why is this not happening in Python?

From the Zen of Python:

Explicit is better than implicit.

Should Python call the parent constructor before or after the child constructor? With what arguments? Not knowing, it leaves it to you to decide.

class Child(Parent): # define child classdef __init__(self):super(Child, self).__init__()  # call the appropriate superclass constructorprint "Calling child constructor"

See also this StackOverflow post for the benefits of using super().