Can I use Python 3 super() in Python 2.5.6?

Question

Can I use clean Python 3 super() syntax in Python 2.5.6?
Maybe with some kind of __future__ import?

Answer 1

I realize this question is old, and the selected answer may have been correct at the time, but it's no longer complete. You still can't use super() in 2.5.6, but python-future provides a back-ported implementation for 2.6+:

Install python-future with:

% pip install future

The following shows the redefinition of super under builtins:

% python
...
>>> import sys
>>> sys.version_info[:3]
(2, 7, 9)
>>>
>>> super
<type 'super'>
>>>
>>> from builtins import *
>>> super
<function newsuper at 0x000000010b4832e0>
>>> super.__module__
'future.builtins.newsuper'

It can be used as follows:

from builtins import super

class Foo(object):
    def f(self):
        print('foo')

class Bar(Foo):
    def f(self):
        super().f() # <- whoomp, there it is
        print('bar')

b = Bar()
b.f()

which outputs

foo
bar

If you use pylint, you can disable legacy warnings with the comment:

# pylint: disable=missing-super-argument

Answer 2

You cannot use a bare super() call that contains no type/class. Nor can you implement a replacement for it that will work. Python 3.x contains special support to enable bare super() calls (it places a __class__ cell variable in all functions defined within a class - see PEP 3135

---

Update

As of Python 2.6+, bare super() calls can be used via the future Python package. See posita's answer for an explanation.