Page 448 - Computer science 868 Class 12
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12 INHERITANCE, INTERFACES
AND POLYMORPHISM
Learning Objectives
12.1 Inheritance, Base and Derived Class 12.2 Solved Programs on Inheritance
12.3 Function Overloading and Polymorphism 12.4 Keyword Abstract
12.5 Interface in Java
Merriam Webster defines inheritance as “the acquisition of a possession, Parents
condition, or trait from past generations”. In simple words, when the older
generation passes its property and valuable possessions to its next generation,
then the later is said to inherit the valuables from his/her family by virtue of his/
her birth right.
Object-oriented programming concepts are inspired from the real world.
Inheritance is an important feature of OOP. Let us understand the concept in
detail. Inheritance Parents Property
12.1 INHERITANCE, BASE AND DERIVED CLASS
Inheritance allows objects of one class to acquire or access variables and Child
methods of other classes, thereby establishing class hierarchies. We, thus, conclude implementation of inheritance
involves at least two classes. They are as follows:
• Base class or Super class: The class that shares its variables and methods with another class is called Base class or
Super class.
• Subclass or Derived class: The class that inherits the properties (member data and methods) from the base class
is called Subclass or Derived class. The subclass can add its own variables and methods in addition to the super
class properties it has inherited.
Definition
Inheritance can be defined as an OOP paradigm where the derived class acquires the characteristics of the base
class.
446446 Touchpad Computer Science-XII

