python: change base class attribute

Question

So, I have this class which keeps track of the number of instances that are created:

class Base(object):
 total = 0
 def __init__(self):
 <more code>
 Base.total += 1

Now, I want to create a derived class, but I don't want its instances to add to the total in Base. So I subtract in order to undo the adding:

class Derived(Base):
 def __init__(self):
 super(Derived,self).__init__()
 Base.total -= 1

It works, however, it does not seem to me a good practice to access a base class attribute in the derived class. Is there a better method?

• Selcuk: You don't have to call the __init__ method of your base class. You can always move your <more code> block into a separate function.

Answer 1

You can avoid calling superclass constructor in child class. It works fine but not looking very nice

noinspection PyMissingConstructor

class Derived(Base):

def __init__(self):
 <more code>