Copy constructor in python

Question

Is there a copy constructor in python ? If not what would I do to achieve something similar ?

The situation is that I am using a library and I have extended one of the classes there with extra functionality and I want to be able to convert the objects I get from the library to instances of my own class.

Answer 1

I think you want the copy module

import copy

x = copy.copy(y)        # make a shallow copy of y
x = copy.deepcopy(y)    # make a deep copy of y

you can control copying in much the same way as you control pickle.

Answer 2

For your situation, I would suggest writing a class method (or it could be a static method or a separate function) that takes as an argument an instance of the library's class and returns an instance of your class with all applicable attributes copied over.