THINK++ — Engineering Visualized

Reusability

C++ Inheritance

Inheritance allows a class (Derived Class) to acquire the properties and methods of another class (Base Class). It implements the "is-a" relationship.

SYNTAX

class Animal { /* Base Class */ };

class Dog : public Animal {
    /* Derived Class inheriting from Animal */
};

BASE CLASS

The existing class being inherited from (also called Parent or Super class).

DERIVED CLASS

The new class that inherits features (also called Child or Sub class).

PROTECTED ACCESS

Members marked protected are private to the outside world but accessible to all derived classes. This is key for building class hierarchies.

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