Inheritance

To avoid redefining attributes and methods for similar classes, we can write a single base class from which more specialized classes inherit. For example, we can write a class called Pet and define Dog as a subclass of Pet:

class Pet:

    def __init__(self, name, owner):
        self.is_alive = True    # It's alive!!!
        self.name = name
        self.owner = owner

    def eat(self, thing):
        print(self.name + " ate a " + str(thing) + "!")

    def talk(self):
        print(self.name)

class Dog(Pet):

    def talk(self):
        super().talk()
        print('This Dog says woof!')

Inheritance represents a hierarchical relationship between two or more classes where one class is a more specific version of the other: a dog is a pet. (We use "is a" to describe this sort of relationship in OOP languages, not to refer to the Python is operator.)

Since Dog inherits from Pet, the Dog class will also inherit the Pet class's methods, so we don't have to redefine __init__ or eat. We do want each Dog to talk in a Dog-specific way, so we can override the talk method.

We can use super() to refer to the superclass of self, and access any superclass methods as if we were an instance of the superclass. For example, super().talk() in the Dog class will call the talk method from the Pet class, but passes in the Dog instance as the self.

Q1: Cat

Below is the implementation of a Pet class. Each pet has two instance attributes (name and owner), as well as one instance method (talk).

class Pet:

    def __init__(self, name, owner):
        self.name = name
        self.owner = owner

    def talk(self):
        print(self.name)

Implement the Cat class, which inherits from the Pet class seen above. To complete the implementation, override or implement the following methods:

___init___

Set the Cat's name and owner attributes, and also add 2 new attributes:

1. is_hungry - should be set to False
2. fullness - should be set to whatever the fullness parameter is

Hint: You can call the __init__ method of Pet (the superclass of Cat) to set a cat's name and owner using super().

talk

Print out a cat's greeting, which is "<name of cat> says meow!".

get_hungry

Decrements a cat's fullness level by 1. When fullness reaches zero, is_hungry becomes True. If this is called after fullness has already reached zero, print the message "<name of cat> is hungry."

eat

This method is called when the cat eats some food.

If the cat is hungry, after calling this method both of the following should be true:

1. The cat's fullness value should be set to whatever Cat.default_fullness is.
2. The cat's is_hungry value should be False.

Also print out the food the cat ate. For example, if a cat named Thomas ate fish, print out 'Thomas ate a fish!'

Otherwise, if the cat wasn't hungry, print '<name of cat> is not hungry.'

Linked Lists

A linked list is a Link object or Link.empty.

You can mutate a Link object s in two ways:

• Change the first element with s.first = ...
• Change the rest of the elements with s.rest = ...

You can make a new Link object by calling Link:

• Link(4) makes a linked list of length 1 containing 4.
• Link(4, s) makes a linked list that starts with 4 followed by the elements of linked list s.

class Link:
    """A linked list is either a Link object or Link.empty

    >>> s = Link(3, Link(4, Link(5)))
    >>> s.rest
    Link(4, Link(5))
    >>> s.rest.rest.rest is Link.empty
    True
    >>> s.rest.first * 2
    8
    >>> print(s)
    (3 4 5)
    """
    empty = ()

    def __init__(self, first, rest=empty):
        assert rest is Link.empty or isinstance(rest, Link)
        self.first = first
        self.rest = rest

    def __repr__(self):
        if self.rest:
            rest_repr = ', ' + repr(self.rest)
        else:
            rest_repr = ''
        return 'Link(' + repr(self.first) + rest_repr + ')'

    def __str__(self):
        string = '('
        while self.rest is not Link.empty:
            string += str(self.first) + ' '
            self = self.rest
        return string + str(self.first) + ')'

Q2: Sum Two Ways

Implement both sum_rec and sum_iter. Each one takes a linked list of numbers s and a non-negative integer k and returns the sum of the first k elements of s. If there are fewer than k elements in s, all of them are summed. If k is 0 or s is empty, the sum is 0.

Use recursion to implement sum_rec. Don't use recursion to implement sum_iter; use a while loop instead.

To get started on the recursive implementation, consider the example a = Link(1, Link(6, Link(8))), and the call sum_rec(a, 2). Write down the recursive call to sum_rec that would help compute sum_rec(a, 2). Then, write down what that recursive call should return. Discuss how this return value is useful in computing the return value of sum_rec(a, 2).

Discussion time: When adding up numbers, the intermediate sums depend on the order. (1 + 3) + 5 and 1 + (3 + 5) both equal 9, but the first one makes 4 along the way while the second makes 8 along the way. For the same linked list s and length k, will sum_rec and sum_iter both make the same intermediate sums along the way?

Q3: Duplicate Link

Write a function duplicate_link that takes in a linked list s and a value. duplicate_link will mutate s such that if there is a linked list node that has a first equal to value, that node will be duplicated. Note that you should be mutating the original linked list s; you will need to create new Links, but you should not be returning a new linked list.

Note: In order to insert a link into a linked list, you need to modify the .rest of certain links. We encourage you to draw out a doctest to visualize!