method overriding

Method overriding is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that allows you to redefine a method in a subclass when that method was already defined in the base class.

This technique is useful when you want to provide a specific implementation for a method that is already defined in the parent class. By overriding a method, you ensure that the subclass’s version is used instead of the superclass’s version, which allows you to customize or extend the behavior of the parent class’s method in the subclass.

Example

Here’s a quick example to illustrate method overriding in Python:

Python animals.py 
class Animal:
    def speak(self):
        print("Animal speaks")

class Dog(Animal):
    def speak(self):
        print("Woof Woof")

# Usage
animal = Animal()
animal.speak()  # Output: Animal speaks

dog = Dog()
dog.speak()  # Output: Woof Woof

In this example, the .speak() method in the Dog class overrides the .speak() method in the Animal class. When you call .speak() on an instance of Dog, it uses the overridden method in the Dog class.

OOP in Python 3

Tutorial

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) in Python

In this tutorial, you'll learn all about object-oriented programming (OOP) in Python. You'll learn the basics of the OOP paradigm and cover concepts like classes and inheritance. You'll also see how to instantiate an object from a class.

intermediate python

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:

By Leodanis Pozo Ramos • Updated May 6, 2025
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