Inheritance - EduardoMSU/OOP-2143 GitHub Wiki

Inheritance in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

What is Inheritance?

Inheritance is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that allows a class (child or derived class) to inherit properties and behaviors (methods) from another class (parent or base class). This promotes reusability and creates a hierarchical relationship between classes.

Key Characteristics of Inheritance

Characteristic Description
Code Reusability The derived class inherits properties and methods from the base class, reducing redundancy.
Extensibility The child class can extend or override the functionality of the base class, adding or modifying behavior.
Hierarchical Structure Inheritance establishes a parent-child relationship, forming a hierarchy among classes.
Method Overriding A derived class can override the base class method to provide its own specific implementation.
Access to Base Class Members The derived class can access public and protected members of the base class, but not private members.

Types of Inheritance

Type of Inheritance Description
Single Inheritance A class inherits from only one base class.
Multiple Inheritance A class inherits from more than one base class (not supported by all languages, like Java).
Multilevel Inheritance A class inherits from a base class, which is derived from another class, forming a chain of inheritance.
Hierarchical Inheritance Multiple classes inherit from a single base class.
Hybrid Inheritance A combination of two or more types of inheritance, such as multiple and multilevel inheritance.

Syntax for Inheritance in C++

Single Inheritance Example:

#include <iostream>

// Base class (parent)
class Animal {
public:
    void eat() {
        std::cout << "Eating..." << std::endl;
    }
};

// Derived class (child)
class Dog : public Animal {
public:
    void bark() {
        std::cout << "Barking..." << std::endl;
    }
};

int main() {
    Dog myDog;
    myDog.eat();   // Inherited from Animal class
    myDog.bark();  // Specific to Dog class
    return 0;
}
⚠️ **GitHub.com Fallback** ⚠️