Inheritance is a fundamental concept in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) that allows new classes to inherit properties and methods from existing ones. This promotes code reusability and hierarchical relationships between classes.

Key Concepts

  • Parent Class (Base Class): The original class from which other classes inherit.
  • Child Class (Derived Class): The new class that inherits from a parent class.
  • Method Overriding: Replacing a parent class method in the child class.
  • Super() Function: Used to call methods from the parent class.

Types of Inheritance

  1. Single Inheritance: A child class inherits from one parent class.
    single_inheritance
  2. Multiple Inheritance: A child class inherits from multiple parent classes.
    multiple_inheritance
  3. Multilevel Inheritance: A child class inherits from a parent class, which itself inherits from another class.

Example Code

class Animal:  
    def speak(self):  
        return "Animal sound"  

class Dog(Animal):  
    def speak(self):  
        return "Bark!"  

dog = Dog()  
print(dog.speak())  # Output: Bark!
python_inheritance_example

Best Practices

  • Use inheritance to share common functionality.
  • Avoid deep inheritance hierarchies to prevent complexity.
  • Prefer composition over inheritance when possible.

For a deeper dive into OOP concepts, check out our Object-Oriented Programming Guide. 🚀