<snip until MIB ;-)> Another case in in Network management. Network management systems use what is called a MIB. A Management Information Base. The MIB is usually defined in terms of Managed Objects(MO). There is a standard protocol (a set of methods or API) that all MOs must adhere to. Specific types of network elements (routers, switches, printers etc) all have their own specialist methods/features on top of the standard MO protocol. Specific models of router or printer will then have their own proprietary features on top of that again. So a MIB will typically have a deep inheritance stricture starting with MO, then a layer of generic devices(router, switch, printer etc) then a third layer of manufacturers models (eg. Cisco5300, HP Deskjet 4550, etc) When we come to add a new model of printer, say, to the MIB we want to minimize the coding so we inherit the generic printer object which will give us the generic MO protocol methods plus the generic printer features (out of paper/ink alarms etc) for free. We then implement the special features of that model (blue-tooth connection opened, banner printing mode selected etc). By only having to code the differences it is much easier to add new objects.
===> interesting. Is this (a) the same as or (b) similar to Abstract Base Classes (ABC) in Python? <snip> _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor