Object-Oriented Programming

Using C++
Third Edition

Understanding Inheritance

Introduction
Inheritance allows to use Re-usability concept.
Once a class is written; it can be used and tested
by other programmers.
Mechanism of deriving new class from old-one is
called Inheritance.
Old class Base class
New class Derived class

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Types of Inheritance
A class can Inherit properties in following ways:

Single Inheritance
Multiple Inheritance
Hierarchical Inheritance
Multi-level Inheritance
Hybrid Inheritance

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Understanding the Advantages

Provided by Inheritance
Programs in which you derive new classes from
existing classes offer several advantages:
Much of the code is already written
Existing code has already been tested; it is reliable
You already understand how the base class works,
and you can concentrate on writing the
extensions
You can extend and revise a parent class without
corrupting the existing parent class features
If other classes have been derived from the parent
class, the parent class is even more reliable
Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Defining Derived Class

General form of defining derived class:

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Creating a Derived Class

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Creating a Derived Class (continued)

You can say every child class object is a parent

class object
For example, every Customer is a Person

The Customer class shown above contains all the

members of Person because it inherits them
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Creating a Derived Class (continued)

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Creating a Derived Class (continued)

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Understanding Inheritance Restrictions

If you replace the original outputBalDue()

function with the one shown above, programs that
use the function no longer run
The private Person field idNum is inaccessible

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Example (Single level Inheritance)

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Example (Multiple Inheritance)

Adding members Publicly & Privately

Public Inheritance

Private Inheritance

Understanding Inheritance Restrictions

(continued)

private members can be accessed only within a

class
protected members can be accessed only by
class functions, or by functions in child classes
public members can be accessed anywhere
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Public derivation
Class base
{
private:
int base_a;
protected:
int base_b;
public:
void base_set();
};
Class derived: public base
{
private:
int derived_a;
protected:
int derived_b;
public:
void derived_set();
};

Class derived: public base

{
private:
int derived_a;
protected:
int base_b;
int derived_b;
public:
void base_set();
void derived_set();
};

Protected derivation
Class base
{
private:
int base_a;
protected:
int base_b;
public:
void base_set();
};
Class derived: protected base
{
private:
int derived_a;
protected:
int derived_b;
public:
void derived_set();
};

Class derived: protected base

{
private:
int derived_a;
protected:
int base_b;
int derived_b;
void base_set();
public:
void derived_set();
};

Private derivation
Class base
{
private:
int base_a;
protected:
int base_b;
public:
void base_set();
};
Class derived: private base
{
private:
int derived_a;
protected:
int derived_b;
public:
void derived_set();
};

Class derived: protected base

{
private:
int derived_a;
int base_b;
void base_set();
protected:
int derived_b;
public:
void derived_set();
};

Understanding Inheritance Restrictions

(continued)
The following are never inherited:

constructors
destructors
friend functions
overloaded new operators

overloaded = operators

Class friendship is not inherited

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Choosing the Class Access Specifier

(continued)

If you dont use an access specifier when creating

a derived class, access is private by default
A classs private data can be accessed only by a
classs member functions
The inheritance access specifier in derived classes
is most often public
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Ambiguity Resolution

Overriding Inherited Access

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Overriding Inherited Access

(continued)

You cannot access protected or

private members of the class

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Overriding Inherited Access

(continued)
Protected
member is
made Public

Access for showPolicy() is public within

AutomobileInsurancePolicy, even though all
other public members of InsurancePolicy are
protected within the child
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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions
Base Class

Receiving 3
parameters

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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions (continued)
Derived Class
Receiving 5
parameters in
derived class

Initializes inherited
base class members

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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions (continued)
The following version of the setFields()
function requires less work on your part and takes
advantage of code reusability
And, it could be used even if the data fields in
Person were declared to be private rather than
protected
Alternately,
Initializes inherited
base class members

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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions (continued)
Base class object
Derived class object

Same outputData()
function is used

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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions (continued)

overrides the outputData()

function defined in Person

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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions (continued)
You can use the Person version of a function in an
Employee object by using the following syntax
worker.Person::setFields(id,last,first);

If a base class contains a function that the derived

class should not have, you can create a dummy
function with the same name in the derived class

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Overriding and Overloading Parent

Class Functions (continued)

When any class member function is called, the

following steps take place:
1. The compiler looks for a matching function in the
class of the object using the function name
2. If no match is found in this class, the compiler looks
for a matching function in the parent class
3. If no match is found in the parent class, the compiler
continues up the inheritance hierarchy, looking at
the parent of the parent, until the base class is
reached
4. If no match is found in any class, an error message
is issued

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Constructors in Derived Class

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Example
Derived class object created as:

Definition of constructor called:

Providing for Base Class Construction

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Providing for Base Class Construction

(continued)

When a child class object is instantiated, a

PetStoreItem object is constructed first, and the
PetStoreItem class constructor is called
The PetStoreItem constructor requires arguments
for stockNum and price, so those arguments have
to be provided to the constructor
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Providing for Base Class Construction

(continued)

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Providing for Base Class Construction

(continued)

When a derived class object is destroyed the child

class destructor is called first and the base class
destructor is called last

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Order of execution of Constructors

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Using Multiple Inheritance

When a child class derives from a single parent,
you are using single inheritance
A child class can also derive from more than one
base class; this is called multiple inheritance
An RV is both a Dwelling and a Vehicle
Multiple inheritance speeds development of the RV
class

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Using Multiple Inheritance (continued)

Base Class: 1

Constructor

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Using Multiple Inheritance (continued)

Base Class: 2

constructor

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Using Multiple Inheritance (continued)

Derived Class

constructor

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Using Multiple Inheritance (continued)

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Disadvantages of Using Multiple

Inheritance
Multiple inheritance is never required to solve a
programming problem
For example, the RV class could be written to inherit
from Vehicle, but could contain a Dwelling

If two parent classes contain members with the

same name then you must use the resolution
operator when working with those members
The definition of a class that inherits from a single
parent is almost always easier to understand and
less prone to error
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Hybrid Inheritance

Virtual Base Class

Here, all public & protected members are inherited

twice in Child class; and introduces ambiguity.
It can be avoided using keyword Virtual while
inheriting the base class.

Virtual Base Class (cont.)

Aggregation
Here object of one class is declared as member of another class
Object of
Date class

class student
class Date
{
{
private:
private:
int id_no;
int month, day, year;
Date dob;
public:
public:
Date(int m, int d, int year)
student(int id, int d, int m, int y)
{
: dob(d,m,y)
Constructor is
month = m;
{
called
day = d;
id_no = id;
year= y;
}
}
}
};

Object Slicing
Base & Derived class
class base
{
public:
int i, j;
};
class derived: public base
{
public:
int k;
};

Main() function
int main()
{
base b;
derived d;
b=d;
}

Object-Oriented Programming Using C++, Third Edition

Derived class
members are
copies one-by-one
into base class

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Object Slicing (cont.)

class base
{
public:
int i;
int j;
};

copied

class derived: public base

{
public:
int i;
int j;
int k;
};
Gets sliced. Means on
copied to anything

Object Delegation
It is behaviour of object in terms of another object.
Alternative to class inheritance.
Here, 2 objects are involved in handling request:
A receiving object delegates operations to its
delegate.

It is analogous to child classes sending request to

parent classes.

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Example
A class object
declared

Constructor

Function of class A
called to perform
task

Object of class A
passed in constructor