Inheritance in OOP

Inheritance is a fundamental principle in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) that allows a class to inherit properties and behaviors (methods) from another class. This helps in code reuse and establishes a parent-child relationship between classes.

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Key Features of Inheritance

• Establishes a hierarchical relationship between classes.
• Promotes code reuse by allowing derived classes to use methods and attributes of the base class.
• Supports an "is-a" relationship between objects.

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Example of Inheritance

C++ Code

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Vehicle {
public:
    void move() {
        cout << "Vehicle is moving" << endl;
    }
};

class Car : public Vehicle {  // Car inherits from Vehicle
public:
    void honk() {
        cout << "Car is honking" << endl;
    }
};

int main() {
    Car car;
    car.move();  // Inherited method
    car.honk();  // Car's own method
    return 0;
}

JavaScript Code

class Vehicle {
    move() {
        console.log("Vehicle is moving");
    }
}

class Car extends Vehicle {  // Car inherits from Vehicle
    honk() {
        console.log("Car is honking");
    }
}

// Main code
const car = new Car();
car.move();  // Inherited method
car.honk();  // Car's own method

Advantages of Inheritance

Code reuse: Common code is written in the parent class and reused by child classes. Extensibility: New features can be added to the child class without modifying the parent class. Polymorphism: Supports runtime polymorphism through method overriding.