Inheritance in C++
Inheritance in C++
Inheritance in C++
The capability of a class to derive properties and characteristics from another class is called
Programming.
Sub Class: The class that inherits properties from another class is called Sub class or
Derived Class.
Super Class:The class whose properties are inherited by sub class is called Base Class or
Super class.
Consider a group of vehicles. You need to create classes for Bus, Car and Truck. The
methods fuelAmount(), capacity(), applyBrakes() will be same for all of the three classes. If
we create these classes avoiding inheritance then we have to write all of these functions in
You can clearly see that above process results in duplication of same code 3 times. This
increases the chances of error and data redundancy. To avoid this type of situation,
inheritance is used. If we create a class Vehicle and write these three functions in it and
inherit the rest of the classes from the vehicle class, then we can simply avoid the
Look at the below diagram in which the three classes are inherited from vehicle class :
Using inheritance, we have to write the functions only one time instead of three times as we
Implementing inheritance in C++: For creating a sub-class which is inherited from the base
Syntax:
//body of subclass
};
Here, s
ubclass_name i s the name of the sub class, access_mode is the mode in which you
want to inherit this sub class for example: public, private etc. and b
ase_class_name is the
name of the base class from which you want to inherit the sub class.
inherit a full parent object, which contains any private members which that class declares.
// C++ program to demonstrate implementation of Inheritance
int id_p;
};
class Child : public Parent // Sub class inheriting from Base Class(Parent)
{
public:
int id_c;
};
obj1.id_p = 91;
return 0;
}
Output:
Child id is 7
Parent id is 91
In the above program the ‘Child’ class is publicly inherited from the ‘Parent’ class so the
public data members of the class ‘Parent’ will also be inherited by the class ‘Child’.
Modes of Inheritance
1. Public mode: If we derive a sub class from a public base class. Then the public
member of the base class will become public in the derived class and protected
members of the base class will become protected in derived class.
2. Protected mode: If we derive a sub class from a Protected base class. Then
both public member and protected members of the base class will become
protected in derived class.
3. Private mode: If we derive a sub class from a Private base class. Then both
public member and protected members of the base class will become Private in
derived class.
Note : The private members in the base class cannot be directly accessed in the derived
For example, Classes B, C and D all contain the variables x, y and z in below example. It is
// C++ Implementation to show that a derived class doesn’t inherit access to private data
class A
{
public:
int x;
protected:
int y;
private:
int z;
};
class B : public A
{
// x is public
// y is protected
};
{
// x is protected
// y is protected
};
{
// x is private
// y is private
};
The below table summarizes the above three modes and shows the access specifier of the
members of base class in the sub class when derived in public, protected and private
modes:
1. Single Inheritance: In single inheritance, a class is allowed to inherit from only one
class. i.e. one sub class is inherited by one base class only.
Syntax:
class subclass_name : access_mode base_class
{
//body of subclass
};
class Car: public Vehicle // sub class derived from two base
classes
{
};
// main function
int main()
{
// creating object of sub class will
// invoke the constructor of base classes
Car obj;
return 0;
}
Output:
This is a vehicle
2.Multiple Inheritance: Multiple Inheritance is a feature of C++ where a class can inherit
from more than one classes. i.e one sub class is inherited from more than one base
classes.
Syntax:
class subclass_name : access_mode base_class1, access_mode base_class2,
....
{
//body of subclass
};
Here, the number of base classes will be separated by a comma (‘, ‘) and access mode for
every base class must be specified.
// C++ program to explain multiple inheritance
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Vehicle // first base class
{
public:
Vehicle()
{
cout << "This is a Vehicle" << endl;
}
};
class FourWheeler // second base class
{
public:
FourWheeler()
{
cout << "This is a 4 wheeler Vehicle" << endl;
}
};
// sub class derived from two base classes
class Car: public Vehicle, public FourWheeler
{
};
int main() // main function
{
Car obj; // creating object of sub class will invoke the constructor of base classes
return 0;
}
Output:
This is a Vehicle
This is a 4 wheeler Vehicle
// C++ program to implement Multilevel Inheritance
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Vehicle // base class
{
public:
Vehicle()
{
cout << "This is a Vehicle" << endl;
}
};
class fourWheeler: public Vehicle
{
public:
fourWheeler()
{
cout<<"Objects with 4 wheels are vehicles"<<endl;
}
};
class Car: public fourWheeler // sub class derived from two base classes
{
public:
car()
{
cout<<"Car has 4 Wheels"<<endl;
}
};
int main() // main function
{
//creating object of sub class will invoke the constructor of base classes
Car obj;
return 0;
}
output:
This is a Vehicle
Objects with 4 wheels are vehicles
Car has 4 Wheels
4.Hierarchical Inheritance: In this type of inheritance, more than one sub class is inherited
from a single base class. i.e. more than one derived class is created from a single base
class.
// C++ program to implement Hierarchical Inheritance
#include <iostream.h>
class Vehicle // base class
{
public:
Vehicle()
{
cout << "This is a Vehicle" << endl;
}
};
class Car: public Vehicle // first sub class
{
};
class Bus: public Vehicle // second sub class
{
};
int main() // main function
{
// creating object of sub class will invoke the constructor of base class
Car obj1;
Bus obj2;
return 0;
}
Output:
This is a Vehicle
This is a Vehicle
// C++ program for Hybrid Inheritance
#include <iostream.h>
class Vehicle // base class
{
public:
Vehicle()
{
cout << "This is a Vehicle" << endl;
}
};
class Fare //base class
{
public:
Fare()
{
cout<<"Fare of Vehicle\n";
}
};
class Car: public Vehicle // first sub class
{
};
class Bus: public Vehicle, public Fare // second sub class
{
};
int main() // main function
{
// creating object of sub class will invoke the constructor of base class
Bus obj2;
return 0;
}
Output:
This is a Vehicle
Fare of Vehicle
classes.
The constructors of inherited classes are called in the same order in which they are
inherited. For example, in the following program, B’s constructor is called before A’s
constructor.
#include<iostream.h>
class A
{
public:
A()
{ cout << "A's constructor called" << endl; }
};
class B
{
public:
B()
{ cout << "B's constructor called" << endl; }
};
class C: public B, public A // Note the order
{
public:
C() { cout << "C's constructor called" << endl; }
};
int main()
{
C c;
return 0;
}
Output:
B's constructor called
A's constructor called
C's constructor called