Functions and Objects

Inheritance in C++

Inheritance is used to inherit another class' members, including fields and methods. A derived class inherits a base class' members.


Syntax
class derivedClass : modifier baseClass {

};

Notes

A child class inherits all members from the parent class without direct implementation within the child class.

If a function is written in the child class with the same name and parameters as one in the parent class, the parent class' method is overwritten with a direct call. To access the base class' method, prefix the method with 'baseClassName::'.


Example
using namespace std;
#include <string>

class Cat {
public:
    string name;    
    Cat() {
        this->name = "Garfield";        
    }    
    string sound(){ //implemented sound method from the interface
        return "Meow!";
    }
}; 
 
class Tiger : public Cat { //the variable 'name' and the method 'sound()' are inherited
public:
    Tiger() : Cat(){
        //calling the constructor in the base class, Cat
    }
    string sound(){ //overwriting the sound() method in Cat
        return "Roar!";
    } 
    string catSound() : Cat{
        return Cat::sound(); //calling the sound method from Cat, non-overwritten
    }
};

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