Inheritance—Defining Classes in Terms of One Another
Inheritance is the capability for one class to inherit or take on the traits of another class. Typically, this happens in a hierarchical fashion. Consider the following simple example to see how this inheritance results in a natural hierarchy of classes. Figure 3.2 shows three classes: HR Employee, IT Employee, and Warehouse Employee. Each of these is shown with some of their properties and methods.
Figure 3.2. Three classes—no parent class.
By looking at them, it quickly becomes clear that we could hierarchically structure these classes by abstracting their common traits into a parent class. ...
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