Inheritance Basics

Inheritance allows a new class to inherit properties and behaviors from an existing class.

Base Class (Parent)

The class being inherited from.

Derived Class (Child)

The class that inherits.

Syntax

class Animal {
public:
    void eat() { cout << "Eating"; }
};

class Dog : public Animal {
public:
    void bark() { cout << "Barking"; }
};

Dog inherits eat() from Animal and adds bark().

Types of Inheritance

• public: Most common. Public stays public, protected stays protected
• private: Everything becomes private in derived class
• protected: Public becomes protected in derived class

Benefits

• Code reuse: Write common code once in base class
• Logical hierarchy: Model real-world relationships
• Polymorphism: Treat derived classes through base class interface

Example Hierarchy

Animal -> Dog, Cat, Bird

Vehicle -> Car, Truck, Motorcycle