Introduction to Inheritance

Inheritance is one of the most important features of Object Oriented Programming is

Inheritance. In object-oriented programming, inheritance enables new class and its objects to
take on the properties of the existing classes. A class that is used as the basis for inheritance
is called a superclass or base class. A class that inherits from a superclass is called a subclass
or derived class.
It is a process of creating new classes called derived classes, from the existing or base classes.
Inheritance allows us to inherit all the code (except declared as private) of one class to
another class. The class to be inherited is called base class or parent class and the class which
inherits the other class is called derived class or child class.

Derived Class and Base class

While defining a derived class, the derived class should identify the class from which it is
derived. The following points should be observed for defining the derived class.

i. The keyword class has to be used

ii. The name of the derived class is to be given after the keyword class

iii. A single colon

iv. The type of derivation (the visibility mode ), namely private, public or protected. If no
visibility mode is specified ,then by default the visibility mode is considered as private.

v. The names of all base classes(parent classes) separated by comma.

visibility mode

Visibility mode is used in the inheritance of C++ to show or relate how base classes are
viewed with respect to derived class. When one class gets inherited from another, visibility
mode is used to inherit all the public and protected members of the base class. Private
members never get inherited and hence do not take part in visibility.
Private visibility mode

When a base class is inherited with private visibility mode the public and protected members
of the base class become ‘private’ members of the derived class

protected visibility mode

When a base class is inherited with protected visibility mode the protected and public
members of the base class become ‘protected members ‘ of the derived class

public visibility mode

When a base class is inherited with public visibility mode , the protected members of the base
class will be inherited as protected members of the derived class and the public members of
the base class will be inherited as public members of the derived class.
Types of Inheritance
There are different types of inheritance viz., Single Inheritance, Multiple inheritance,
Multilevel inheritance, hybrid inheritance and hierarchical inheritance.

 1. Single Inheritance

When a derived class inherits only from one base class, it is known as single inheritance

 2. Multiple Inheritance

When a derived class inherits from multiple base classes it is known as multiple inheritance

 3. Hierarchical inheritance

When more than one derived classes are created from a single base class , it is known as
Hierarchical inheritance.

 4. Multilevel Inheritance

The transitive nature of inheritance is itself reflected by this form of inheritance. When a
class is derived from a class which is a derived class – then it is referred to as multilevel
inheritance.

5. Hybrid inheritance

When there is a combination of more than one type of inheritance, it is known as hybrid
inheritance. Hence, it may be a combination of Multilevel and Multiple inheritance or
Hierarchical and Multilevel inheritance or Hierarchical, Multilevel and Multiple inheritance.
Single Inheritance
Though  the  derived  class  inherits all the members of base class ,it has access
privilege only to non-private members of the base class .

# include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class student         //base class

{   

private :     

char name[20];    

int rno;       

public:       

void acceptname()         

{   

cout<<"\n Enter roll no and name .. ";

cin>>rno>>name;
}   

void displayname()

{   

cout<<"\n Roll no :-"<<rno;

cout<<"\n Name :-"<<name<<endl;

};

class exam : public student      //derived class with single base class

public:

      int mark1, mark2 ,mark3,mark4,mark5,mark6,total;

void acceptmark()

cout<<"\n Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. ";

 cin>>mark1>>mark2>>mark3>>mark4>>mark5>>mark6;

void displaymark()

cout<<"\n\t\t Marks Obtained ";

cout<<"\n Language.. "<<mark1;

cout<<"\n English .. "<<mark2;

cout<<"\n Physics .. "<<mark3;

cout<<"\n Chemistry.. "<<mark4;

cout<<"\n Comp.sci.. "<<mark5;

cout<<"\n Maths ..  "<<mark6;

};

int main()

exam e1;

e1.acceptname();    

e1.acceptmark();

e1.displayname();    

e1.displaymark();

return 0;

Output

Enter roll no and name .. 1201 KANNAN

Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. 100 100 100 100 100 100

Roll no :-1201

Name :-KANNAN

Marks Obtained

Language.. 100

English .. 100

Physics .. 100

Chemistry.. 100

Comp.sci.. 100
Maths ..  100

Multiple Inheritance
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class student //base class 

{  

private :

char name[20];

int rno; 

public:  

void acceptname()  

{ 

cout<<"\n Enter roll no and name .. "; 

cin>>rno>>name;  

} 

void displayname() 

cout<<"\n Roll no :-"<<rno; 

cout<<"\n Name :-"<<name<<endl; 

};

class detail                     //Base class

{
      int dd,mm,yy;

      char cl[4];

public:

void acceptdob()

cout<<"\n Enter date,month,year in digits and class .. ";

cin>>dd>>mm>>yy>>cl;

void displaydob()

cout<<"\n class:-"<<cl;

cout<<"\t\t DOB          : "<<dd<<” - “<<mm<<” –“ <<yy<<endl;

};

class exam : public student,public detail

      public:

      int mark1, mark2 ,mark3,mark4,mark5,mark6,total;

      void acceptmark()

      {

      cout<<"\n Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. ";

      cin>>mark1>>mark2>>mark3>>mark4>>mark5>>mark6;

      }

void displaymark()
{

cout<<"\n\t\t Marks Obtained ";

cout<<"\n Language.. "<<mark1;

cout<<"\n English .. "<<mark2;

cout<<"\n Physics .. "<<mark3;

cout<<"\n Chemistry.. "<<mark4;

cout<<"\n Comp.sci.. "<<mark5;

cout<<"\n Maths ..  "<<mark6;

};

int main()

{   

exam e1;    

e1.acceptname(); 

e1.acceptdob();    

e1.acceptmark();  

e1.displayname();

e1.displaydob();  

e1.displaymark();

return 0;     

}   

Output:

Enter roll no and name .. 1201 MEENA

Enter date,month,year in digits and class .. 7 12 2001 XII

Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. 96 98 100 100 100 100

Roll no :-1201

Name :- MEENA

class   :-XII        DOB          : 7 - 12 -2001

Marks Obtained

Language.. 96

English .. 98

Physics .. 100

Chemistry.. 100

Comp.sci.. 100

Maths ..  100

Multilevel Inheritance
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class student //base class

private :

char name[20];

int rno;

public:

void acceptname()

{ 
cout<<"\n Enter roll no and name .. ";

cin>>rno>>name;

void displayname()

cout<<"\n Roll no :-"<<rno;

cout<<"\n Name :-"<<name<<endl;

}};

class exam : public student

      public:

      int mark1, mark2 ,mark3,mark4,mark5,mark6;

      void acceptmark()

      {

      cout<<"\n Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. ";

      cin>>mark1>>mark2>>mark3>>mark4>>mark5>>mark6; }

void displaymark(){

cout<<"\n\t\t Marks Obtained ";

cout<<"\n Language... "<<mark1;

cout<<"\n English... "<<mark2;

cout<<"\n Physics... "<<mark3;

cout<<"\n Chemistry... "<<mark4;

cout<<"\n Comp.sci... "<<mark5;

cout<<"\n Maths...  "<<mark6;

}

};

class result : public exam

      int total;

      public:

      void showresult()

      {

      total=mark1+mark2+mark3+mark4+mark5+mark6;

      cout<<"\nTOTAL MARK SCORED : "<<total;

      }

};

int main()

result r1;

r1.acceptname();       

r1.acceptmark();       

r1.displayname();     

r1.displaymark();      

r1.showresult();        

return 0;

}
Output:

Enter roll no and name .. 1201 SARATHI

Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. 96 98 100 100 100 100

Roll no :-1201

Name :-SARATHI

Marks Obtained

Language... 96

English... 98

Physics... 100

Chemistry... 100

Comp.sci... 100

Maths...      100

TOTAL MARK SCORED      : 594

Hierarchical inheritance
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class student //base class

private :

char name[20];

int rno;

public:

void acceptname()
{

cout<<"\n Enter roll no and name .. ";

cin>>rno>>name;

void displayname()

cout<<"\n Roll no :-"<<rno;

cout<<"\n Name :-"<<name<<endl;

};

class qexam : public student                

public:

int mark1, mark2 ,mark3,mark4,mark5,mark6;

void acceptmark()

cout<<"\n Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks for quarterly exam.. ";

cin>>mark1>>mark2>>mark3>>mark4>>mark5>>mark6;

void displaymark()

cout<<"\n\t\t Marks Obtained in quarterly";

cout<<"\n Language.. "<<mark1;

cout<<"\n English .. "<<mark2;

cout<<"\n Physics .. "<<mark3;

cout<<"\n Chemistry.. "<<mark4;

cout<<"\n Comp.sci.. "<<mark5;

cout<<"\n Maths .. "<<mark6;

};

class hexam : public student          

public:

int mark1, mark2 ,mark3,mark4,mark5,mark6;

void acceptmark()

cout<<"\n Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks for halfyearly exam.. ";

cin>>mark1>>mark2>>mark3>>mark4>>mark5>>mark6;

void displaymark()

cout<<"\n\t\t Marks Obtained in Halfyearly";

cout<<"\n Language.. "<<mark1;

cout<<"\n English .. "<<mark2; cout<<"\n Physics .. "<<mark3;

cout<<"\n Chemistry.. "<<mark4; cout<<"\n Comp.sci.. "<<mark5;

cout<<"\n Maths .. "<<mark6;

}
};

int main()

qexam q1;

hexam h1;

q1.acceptname();

q1.acceptmark();

h1.acceptname();

h1.acceptmark();

q1.displayname();

h1.displaymark();

q1.displaymark();

return 0;

Output

Enter roll no and name .. 1201 KANNAN

Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks for quarterly exam..

95 96 100 98 100 99

Roll no :-1201

Name :-KANNAN

Marks Obtained in quarterly

Language.. 95

English .. 96

Physics .. 100
Chemistry.. 98

Comp.sci.. 100

Maths ..  99

Enter roll no and name .. 1201 KANNAN

Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks for halfyearly exam..

96 98 100 100 100 100

Roll no :-1201

Name :-KANNAN

Marks Obtained in Halfyearly

Language.. 96

English .. 98

Physics .. 100

Chemistry.. 100

Comp.sci.. 100

Maths ..  100

Hybrid inheritance
# include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class student //base class

private :

char name[20];

int rno;
public:

void acceptname()

cout<<"\n Enter roll no and name .. ";

cin>>rno>>name;

void displayname()

cout<<"\n Roll no :-"<<rno;

cout<<"\n Name :-"<<name<<endl;

};

class exam : public student

public:

int mark1, mark2 ,mark3,mark4,mark5,mark6;

void acceptmark()

cout<<"\n Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. ";

cin>>mark1>>mark2>>mark3>>mark4>>mark5>>mark6;

void displaymark() {

cout<<"\n\t\t Marks Obtained ";

cout<<"\n Language.. "<<mark1;

cout<<"\n English .. "<<mark2;

cout<<"\n Physics .. "<<mark3;

cout<<"\n Chemistry.. "<<mark4;

cout<<"\n Comp.sci.. "<<mark5;

cout<<"\n Maths ..  "<<mark6;

};

class detail                  

int dd,mm,yy;

char cl[4];

public:

void acceptdob()

cout<<"\n Enter date,month,year in digits and class .. ";

cin>>dd>>mm>>yy>>cl;

void displaydob()

cout<<"\n class         :-"<<cl;

cout<<"\t\t DOB        : "<<dd<<" - "<<mm<<" -" <<yy<<endl;

};

class result : public exam,public detail

{

      int total;

      public:

      void showresult()

      {

      total=mark1+mark2+mark3+mark4+mark5+mark6;

      cout<<"\nTOTAL MARK SCORED : "<<total;

      }

};

int main()

result r1;

r1.acceptname();             //calling base class function using derived class object

r1.acceptmark();            

r1.acceptdob();

cout<<"\n\n\t\t MARKS STATEMENT";

r1.displayname();             //calling base class function using derived class object

r1.displaydob();

r1.displaymark();            

r1.showresult();             

return 0;

}
Output:

Enter roll no and name .. 1201 RAGU

Enter lang,eng,phy,che,csc,mat marks.. 96 98 100 100 100 100

Enter date,month,year in digits and class .. 7 12 2001 XII

MARKS STATEMENT

Roll no :-1201

Name :-RAGU

class   :-XII    DOB          : 7 - 12 -2001

Marks Obtained

Language.. 96

English .. 98

Physics .. 100

Chemistry.. 100

Comp.sci.. 100

Maths ..  100

TOTAL MARK SCORED      : 594

Virtual Base Class in C++

The data members/functions of class A are inherited twice to class D, as seen in the
diagram. The first will take you through class B, and the second will take you through class
C. When an object of class D accesses any data or function member of class A, it's unclear
which data or function member would be named. One was inherited via B, and it inherited the
other via C. This throws the compiler into a loop and causes an error to appear.
The duplication of inherited members can be avoided by making the common base class as
virtual base class.

virtual can be written before or after the public. Now only one copy of

data/function member will be copied to class C and class B and class A becomes the
virtual base class.
Virtual base classes offer a way to save space and avoid ambiguities in class
hierarchies that use multiple inheritances. When a base class is specified as a virtual
base, it can act as an indirect base more than once without duplication of its data
members. A single copy of its data members is shared by all the base classes that use
virtual base.
Pure Virtual Functions and Abstract
Classes in C++

Pure Virtual Functions in C++

A pure virtual function (or abstract function) in C++ is a virtual function
for which we don’t have an implementation, we only declare it. A pure

virtual function is declared by assigning 0 in the declaration. We can

write pure virtual functions in a class as below. Pure virtual function
should not have implementation in the class itself and all pure virtual
functions must be defined or have to be implemented in all derived
classes.

E.g. virtual void func() = 0;

Abstract Class
Sometimes implementation of all function cannot be provided in a base class
because we don’t know the implementation. Such a class is called abstract
class.

 A class is abstract if it has at least one pure virtual function. 

 If we do not override the pure virtual function in derived class, then
derived class also becomes abstract class. 

 An abstract class can have constructors. 

 The object of abstract class cannot be created
Constructor in Derived Class
Whenever you create derived class object, first the base class default constructor is executed and
then the derived class’s constructor finishes execution.

In inheritance constructor of base class is inherited like other member functions. Object of
derived class, access the constructor of base class like normal functions.