Inheritance in C++ 

The capability of a class to derive properties and characteristics from another class is called 

Inheritance​. Inheritance is one of the most important feature of Object Oriented 

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. 

Why and when to use inheritance? 

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 

each of the three classes as shown in below figure: 

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 

duplication of data and increase reusability.  

 
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 

have inherited rest of the three classes from base class(Vehicle). 

Implementing inheritance in C++​: For creating a sub-class which is inherited from the base 

class we have to follow the below syntax. 

Syntax​: 

class subclass_name : access_mode base_class_name

//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. 

Note​: A derived class doesn’t inherit a

​ ccess​ to private data members. However, it does 

inherit a full parent object, which contains any private members which that class declares. 

 
// C++ program to demonstrate implementation of Inheritance  

class Parent  //Base class 

{  
public:  

int id_p;  

};  

class Child : public Parent  // Sub class inheriting from Base Class(Parent)  

{  

public:  

int id_c;  

};  

int main()  //main function  

{  
Child obj1;  // An object of class child has all data members  
and member functions of class parent  
obj1.id_c = 7;  

obj1.id_p = 91;  

cout << "Child id is " << obj1.id_c << endl;  

cout << "Parent id is " << obj1.id_p << endl;  

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 

class, while protected members can be directly accessed.  

For example, Classes B, C and D all contain the variables x, y and z in below example. It is 

just question of access. 

// C++ Implementation to show that a derived class doesn’t inherit access to private data 

members. However, it does inherit a full parent object  

class A  

{  

public:  

int x;  

protected:  

int y;  

private:  

int z;  

};  

 
class B : public A  

{  

// x is public  

// y is protected  

// z is not accessible from B  

};  

class C : protected A  

{  

// x is protected  

// y is protected  

// z is not accessible from C  

};  

class D : private A // 'private' is default for classes  

{  

// x is private  

// y is private  

// z is not accessible from D  

};  

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: 

 
 

Types of Inheritance in C++ 

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 
}; 

// C++ program to explain Single inheritance

class Vehicle // base class

{
public:
Vehicle()
{
cout << "This is a Vehicle" << endl;
}
};

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

3.Multilevel Inheritance​: In this type of inheritance, a derived class is created from  

another derived class. 
 

 
 
 
// 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 

5. Hybrid (Virtual) Inheritance​: Hybrid Inheritance is implemented by combining more than 

one type of inheritance. For example: Combining Hierarchical inheritance and Multiple 
Inheritance. 
Below image shows the combination of hierarchical and multiple inheritance:

 
// 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

Multiple Inheritance in C++ 

Multiple Inheritance is a feature of C++ where a class can inherit from more than one 

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

The destructors are called in reverse order of constructors.