Lecture 4

Inheritance
Inheritance
 Simply defining a class in terms of another class.
 Easier to reuse.
 Faster implementation.
 Example?
 Inheritance in real life.
 The class being defined is called a Derived or Child Class.
 The existing class is called a Base or Parent Class.
 Also called generalization and specialization.
 Format:
 Access-specifier class derived-class : base-class
 Implements an IS-A relationship.
 UML notation:
 An arrow pointing towards the base class
Example
class
What can/cannot be inherited?
 Can inherit:
 Public and protected members and functions.
 Protected members are only accessible inside the class.

 Cannot inherit
 Private member functions and variables
 Constructors/destructors
 Overloaded operators
 Friend functions
Inheritance Types
 Single-level
 Multi-level
 Hierarchy
 Multiple
 Or a hybrid approach
Multiple Inheritance
Multiple Inheritance
 One class can be inherited from multiple classes as well
 Syntax:
 class derived-class: baseA, baseB....
 Base classes are separated by commas
 The child class will have member functions and attributes
from both classes.
Example
Problems?
 Consider the following class diagram and see if you can spot any
problems there.
The Diamond Problem
 When the time comes for Button to use the function equals()
which one will it use?
 The one inherited from Rectangle?
 Or clickable?
 Or maybe Object?
 Confusing for humans as well as the compiler.
 Called The Diamond Problem
 Solution?
 Your reading assignment for next week