What argument can we pass to super()?

Question

I created a Vehicle class and want to also have a Car class derived from it that calls the parent constructor to set name and color. However I'm getting this error:

super() takes at least 1 argument (0 given)

This is my code:

class Vehicle:

    def __init__(self, name, color):
        self.__name = name      # __name is private to Vehicle class
        self.__color = color

    def getColor(self):         # getColor() function is accessible to class Car
        return self.__color

    def setColor(self, color):  # setColor is accessible outside the class
        self.__color = color

    def getName(self):          # getName() is accessible outside the class
        return self.__name
        self.__model = model

    def getDescription(self):
        return self.getName() + self.__model + " in " + self.getColor() + " color"


class Car(Vehicle):

    def __init__(self, name, color, model):
        # call parent constructor to set name and color
        super().__init__(name,  color)
        self.__model = model

    def getDescription(self):
        return self.getName() + self.__model + " in " + self.getColor() + " color"

# in method getDescrition we are able to call getName(), getColor() because they are
# accessible to child class through inheritance

c = Car("Ford Mustang", "red", "GT350")
print(c.getDescription())

Answer 1

Python 3 - nice

In Python 3 this works:

class Vehicle:
    def __init__(self):
        print('Vehicle __init__() called')

class Car(Vehicle):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

car = Car()

prints:

Vehicle __init__() called

Python 2 - more work

Trying the same thing in Python 2 causes problems:

class Vehicle:
    def __init__(self):
        print('Vehicle __init__() called')

class Car(Vehicle):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()


car = Car()

Throws this exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):
...
TypeError: super() takes at least 1 argument (0 given)

We need to supply the own class as first and and self as second argument to super():

class Vehicle:
    def __init__(self):
        print('Vehicle __init__() called')

class Car(Vehicle):
    def __init__(self):
        super(Car, self).__init__()

car = Car()

But this is not enough:

Traceback (most recent call last):
...
TypeError: must be type, not classobj

class Vehicle: creates an old-style class. Vehicle has to inherit from object to get a new-style class that works with super():

class Vehicle(object):
    def __init__(self):
        print('Vehicle __init__() called')

class Car(Vehicle):
    def __init__(self):
        super(Car, self).__init__()

car = Car()

prints:

Vehicle __init__() called

super() without arguments in Python 2

Having to remember these two arguments all the time is kind of annoying. Fortunately, there is a solution. The highly recommended library Python-Future allows you to use super() without arguments in Python 2:

from builtins import object, super # from Python-Future

class Vehicle(object):
    def __init__(self):
        print('Vehicle __init__() called')

class Car(Vehicle):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

car = Car()

prints:

Vehicle __init__() called