What does the class name mean in super(). __init__()?

Question

How the name of the classes inserted within the constructor’s parentheses works __init__( ), in the classes Telefones, TiposTelefone and Agenda?

This is only an excerpt of Chapter 10 code from the book "Introduction to Programming with Python" by Author: Nilo Ney Coutinho Menezes.

class ListaUnica:

    def __init__(self, elem_class):
        self.lista = []
        self.elem_class = elem_class
    ...


class Telefone:

    def __init__(self, numero, tipo=None):
        self.numero = numero
        self.tipo = tipo
    ...


class Telefones(ListaUnica):

    def __init__(self):
        # Não entendo QUAL O FUNCIONAMENTO da classe Telefone
        # dentro do __init__ do método super(). Até onde estudei
        # sobre POO, a função construtora é usada para
        # inserir parâmetros, (ou não), para a classe, e normalmente
        # HERDAMOS ESSES PARÂMETROS da superclasse (no caso,
        # da classe ListaUnica) usando o método built-in super(), 
        # mas aqui nesse caso, inserimos a classe
        # Telefone no lugar de onde seria normalmente inserido parâmetros
        # que herdariamos da classe pai (no caso, ListaUnica),
        # acabei ficando sem entender o fluxo do código, 
        # poderia me explicar o que acontece com o código na linha abaixo...       
        super().__init__(Telefone)


class DadoAgenda:

    def __init__(self, nome):
        self.nome = nome
        self.telefones = Telefones()

    ...


class TiposTelefone(ListaUnica):

    def __init__(self):
        # não entendo qual o funcionamento da classe TiposTelefone
        # dentro do __init__ do metodo super() tbm!!!.
        super().__init__(TipoTelefone)


class Agenda(ListaUnica):

    def __init__(self):
        # não entendo qual o funcionamento da classe DadoAgenda
        # dentro do __init__ do metodo super() tbm!!!.
        super().__init__(DadoAgenda) 
        self.tiposTelefone = TiposTelefone()

    ...

Answer 1

From what I understand ListaUnica expects a type as a parameter to do some sort of check if the list is always receiving an element of the same type. In fact the code is bad and does not meet this requirement very well, but somehow has this idea.

Generally this is necessary to ensure that the list is homogeneous and therefore coherent; it is not a list of anything. Which shows that Python is not the most suitable language for this, although it works.

I actually think this code is bad because it should be a composition where the agenda should be, among other things a phone list. An agenda, and this should be the most appropriate name of the class, is not a single list, it has a single list. So it’s more of a material trying to force OOP where it doesn’t fit.

So in this code I turn, when it calls the super() is calling the mother-class builder, in case the ListaUnica and passing to him the argument she expects, which is a guy. It is not a common datum, it is a datum that represents a type declared in its code, in this case the Telefone. It will use the type as information to check that everything is ok.

I hope you understand the difference between the type and the object itself. If you don’t understand, go back 3 houses on the board to learn the concepts correctly before seeing examples, and so be able to judge what is happening.