Python inheritance - going from base class to derived one

derived-class, inheritance, python

Solution

Perhaps you are looking for the `__subclasses__` method:

class Alpha(object):
    @classmethod
    def get_derivatives(cls):
        return cls.__subclasses__() 

class Beta(Alpha):
    pass

print(Alpha.get_derivatives())
print(Beta.get_derivatives())

yields

[<class '__main__.Beta'>]
[]

Problem

Given a `class` and other classes that extend it either directly or indirectly. Is there a way to get all the classes that directly extend the original class. ``` class Alpha(object): @classmethod def get_derivatives(cls): return [Beta, ] # when called from Alpha return [] # when called from Beta class Beta(Alpha): pass ``` I'm guessing there are some complications or it is impossible altogether. There would have to be some specification as to where the derived classes are defined, which would make things tricky... Is my best bet to hard-code the derived classes into the base one?

Original source