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(C++) inheritance

Inheritance is a technique to re-use members of a class.

There are multiple types of inheritance:

• implementation inheritance
• interface inheritance
• multiple inheritance

There are three modes of inheritance:

1. public inheritance, an 'is-a-kind-of' relationship, the most commonly used mode of inheritance
2. protected inheritance, an obscure type of relationship
3. private inheritance, an 'is-implemented-in-terms-of' relationship [1]

Examples

• inheritance example 1: basics

advice

• Prefer composition to inheritance [2]

Notes to self

• When in doubt, don't use inheritance: it is far far easier to correct when you've used composition too long, than the other way around

External links

• Wikipedia's page about inheritance

References

1. Scott Meyers. Effective C++ (3rd edition).ISBN:0-321-33487-6. Item 39: 'Use private inheritance judiciously'
2. Herb Sutter, Andrei Alexandrescu. C++ coding standards: 101 rules, guidelines, and best practices. 2005. ISBN: 0-32-111358-6. Chapter 34: 'Prefer composition to inheritance'.

Go back to Richel Bilderbeek's C++ page.

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