Unit III: Extending Classes Using Inheritance
3.1 Introduction to Inheritance
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- Inheritance allows a derived class to acquire properties of a base class.
- Syntax: class Derived : AccessSpecifier Base { };
- Visibility Modes:
* Public: Public and protected members remain the same.
* Protected: Public and protected members become protected.
* Private: Public and protected members become private.
3.2 Types of Inheritance
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- Single: A class inherits from one base class.
- Multilevel: A class inherits from a derived class.
- Multiple: A class inherits from multiple base classes.
- Hierarchical: Multiple classes inherit from a single base class.
- Hybrid: Combination of inheritance types.
3.3 Virtual Base Class, Abstract Class, Constructor in Derived Class
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- Virtual Base Class: Used to resolve ambiguity in multiple inheritance.
- Abstract Class: Contains at least one pure virtual function.
- Constructor in Derived Class: Calls base class constructor using initializer list.
Code Example for Multilevel Inheritance:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Base { public: int x; Base() { x = 10; } };
class Derived1 : public Base { public: int y; Derived1() { y = 20; } };
class Derived2 : public Derived1 { public: int z; Derived2() { z = 30; } };
int main() {
Derived2 obj;
cout << obj.x << obj.y << obj.z;
return 0;
