C++ Inheritance

Base and Derived Classes

A class can be derived from more than one classes, which means it can inherit data and functions
from multiple base classes. To define a derived class, we use a class derivation list to specify the
base class(es). A class derivation list names one or more base classes and has the form −

class derived-class: access-specifier base-class

Where access-specifier is one of public, protected, or private, and base-class is the name of a
previously defined class. If the access-specifier is not used, then it is private by default.

Consider a base class Shape and its derived class Rectangle as follows −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Base class
class Shape {
public:
void setWidth(int w) {
width = w;
}
void setHeight(int h) {
height = h;
}

protected:
int width;
int height;
};

// Derived class
class Rectangle: public Shape {
public:
int getArea() {
return (width * height);
}
};

int main(void) {
Rectangle Rect;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);

// Print the area of the object.

cout << "Total area: " << Rect.getArea() << endl;

return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Total area: 35
Multiple Inheritance

A C++ class can inherit members from more than one class and here is the extended syntax −

class derived-class: access baseA, access baseB....

Where access is one of public, protected, or private and would be given for every base class
and they will be separated by comma as shown above. Let us try the following example −

Live Demo
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Base class Shape

class Shape {
public:
void setWidth(int w) {
width = w;
}
void setHeight(int h) {
height = h;
}

protected:
int width;
int height;
};

// Base class PaintCost

class PaintCost {
public:
int getCost(int area) {
return area * 70;
}
};

// Derived class
class Rectangle: public Shape, public PaintCost {
public:
int getArea() {
return (width * height);
}
};

int main(void) {
Rectangle Rect;
int area;

Rect.setWidth(5);
Rect.setHeight(7);

area = Rect.getArea();

// Print the area of the object.

cout << "Total area: " << Rect.getArea() << endl;
 // Print the total cost of painting
cout << "Total paint cost: $" << Rect.getCost(area) << endl;

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Total area: 35
Total paint cost: $2450
C++ Multilevel Inheritance Example

Here is a simple example to illustrate the concept of c++ multilevel inheritance.

// inheritance.cpp
#include <iostream.h>
class base //single base class
{
public:
int x;
void getdata()
{
cout << "Enter value of x= "; cin >> x;
}
};
class derive1 : public base // derived class from base class
{
public:
int y;
void readdata()
{
cout << "\nEnter value of y= "; cin >> y;
}
};
class derive2 : public derive1 // derived from class derive1
{
private:
int z;
public:
void indata()
{
cout << "\nEnter value of z= "; cin >> z;
}
void product()
{
cout << "\nProduct= " << x * y * z;
}
};
int main()
{
derive2 a; //object of derived class
a.getdata();
a.readdata();
a.indata();
a.product();
return 0;
} //end of program

Output

Enter value of x= 2

Enter value of y= 3

Enter value of z= 3

Product= 18
C++ Hierarchical Inheritance Example
// hierarchial inheritance.cpp
#include <iostream>

class A //single base class

{
public:
int x, y;
void getdata()
{
cout << "\nEnter value of x and y:\n"; cin >> x >> y;
}
};
class B : public A //B is derived from class base
{
public:
void product()
{
cout << "\nProduct= " << x * y;
}
};
class C : public A //C is also derived from class base
{
public:
void sum()
{
cout << "\nSum= " << x + y;
}
};
int main()
{
B obj1; //object of derived class B
C obj2; //object of derived class C
obj1.getdata();
obj1.product();
obj2.getdata();
obj2.sum();
return 0;
} //end of program

Output

Enter value of x and y:

2
3
Product= 6
Enter value of x and y:
2
3
Sum= 5
C++ Hybrid Inheritance Example

Here is a simple program to illustrate the concept of hybrid inheritance in C++.

// hybrid inheritance.cpp
#include <iostream.h>

class A
{
public:
int x;
};
class B : public A
{
public:
B() //constructor to initialize x in base class A
{
x = 10;
}
};
class C
{
public:
int y;
C() //constructor to initialize y
{
y = 4;
}
};
class D : public B, public C //D is derived from class B and class C
{
public:
void sum()
{
cout << "Sum= " << x + y;
}
};

int main()
{
D obj1; //object of derived class D
obj1.sum();
return 0;
} //end of program

Output

Sum= 14