Visual Basic® 2010 Unleashed

Applying Inheritance

Before explaining how inheritance is applied in code, a graphical representation can be useful. Figure 12.1 shows how you can create robust hierarchies of custom objects with inheritance.

Figure 12.1 A graphical representation of a custom framework of objects using inheritance.

You derive a class from a base class using the Inherits keyword. For example, consider the following implementation of the Person class that exposes some basic properties:

Inherits System.Object

In the .NET Framework development, every class inherits ...