In object-oriented programming, inheritance allows a class to inherit attributes and methods from another class. This promotes code reuse and hierarchical relationships between classes.

Key Concepts

  • Parent Class: The base class from which other classes inherit.
  • Child Class: The class that inherits from a parent class.
  • Method Overriding: Replacing a parent class method with a child class implementation.
  • Super() Function: Used to call parent class methods from the child class.

Syntax Example

class Parent:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

    def greet(self):
        return f"Hello from {self.name}"

class Child(Parent):
    def __init__(self, name, age):
        super().__init__(name)  # Call parent constructor
        self.age = age

    def greet(self):
        return f"Hi, I'm {self.name} and {self.age} years old!"

Use Cases

  • Creating a hierarchy of classes (e.g., Animal → Dog, Cat)
  • Implementing common functionality in a base class
  • Extending functionality specific to subclasses

Real-World Application

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For deeper understanding of related OOP concepts like polymorphism, check our tutorial: /en/courses/Python_Tutorials/polymorphism