Inheritance in Java? Explain the various type of Inheritance

🧑‍💻 By quescol • 📅 Published on: 19 February 2024

Short Answer

Inheritance in Java lets one class use the features of another class. It’s like getting traits from your parents. This helps in reusing code and making a group of related classes easier to handle. Java supports different types of inheritance, mainly single, multilevel, and hierarchical.

For example, imagine a basic Animal class that knows how to eat and sleep. If you have a Dog class, it can inherit from Animal and also know how to eat and sleep without writing the same code again. Plus, Dog can add new things like bark. Inheritance makes coding simpler and cleaner.

Detailed Answer

What Do We Mean by Inheritance?

Inheritance is a key feature of Java that allows a class to inherit properties and methods from another class. This base class is often called the “parent” class, while the derived class is called the “child” class. Inheritance promotes code reuse and establishes a relationship between classes.

Types of Inheritance

1. Single Inheritance

• When a class inherits from one parent class only, it’s called single inheritance.
• Example: A Bicycle class inherits from a Vehicle class. This means Bicycle can use Vehicle‘s methods and properties.

2. Multilevel Inheritance

• This happens when a chain of inheritance is formed. A class inherits from a parent class, which in turn inherits from another parent class.
• Example: If Vehicle inherits from Object, and Bicycle inherits from Vehicle, Bicycle gains features from both Vehicle and Object.

3. Hierarchical Inheritance

• When multiple classes inherit from a single parent class, it’s called hierarchical inheritance.
• Example: If both Bicycle and Car inherit from Vehicle, they both use Vehicle‘s features while adding their own unique traits.

Important Points with Examples

• Code Reusability: Inheritance allows for code reuse, making it easier to create new classes without duplicating code. For example, a Bird class can inherit common traits from an Animal class, like eating or sleeping, while adding unique features like flying.
• Maintaining Relationships: Inheritance helps in maintaining a natural hierarchy between classes. For instance, in a university system, a Person class could be a superclass for Student and Teacher subclasses, reflecting real-world relationships.
• Enhanced Flexibility and Maintenance: With inheritance, updating common features in the superclass automatically updates all subclasses. This improves flexibility and makes maintenance easier. For example, if you add a new method to the Vehicle class, all subclasses like Car and Bike automatically gain that new method.

Example of Inheritance

Consider the Animal class:

class Animal {
    void eat() {
        System.out.println("This animal eats food.");
    }
}

Single Inheritance Example:

class Dog extends Animal {
    void bark() {
        System.out.println("The dog barks.");
    }
}

Here, Dog inherits from Animal and can eat and bark.

Multilevel Inheritance Example:

class GermanShepherd extends Dog {
    void loyal() {
        System.out.println("The German Shepherd is loyal.");
    }
}

GermanShepherd inherits from Dog, and thus from Animal, making it able to eat, bark, and be loyal.

Hierarchical Inheritance Example:

class Cat extends Animal {
    void meow() {
        System.out.println("The cat meows.");
    }
}

Both Dog and Cat inherit from Animal, showcasing hierarchical inheritance.

In conclusion, inheritance is a powerful feature of object-oriented programming that allows classes to inherit properties and methods from other classes. It promotes code reusability, maintains natural hierarchies, and enhances flexibility and maintenance of the code. Understanding the different types of inheritance helps in designing efficient and organized software systems.