Object Oriented Programming: Inheritance

Object Oriented Programming: Inheritance

1. Inheritance

   • What Is It?
     • A way to create a child class that "inherits" all the data types and functions of the parent
   • What Is It For?
     • Avoid duplication! Write code once in the parent and then use it in all the children.
     • Keep common code in one place. If you ever have to update it you can change the parent and automatically update all the children

2. Overrides

   • What is it?
     • Replace an inherited function with a child specific function of the same name
   • What is it for?
     • A class that mostly acts like it's parent with one or two exceptions
     • Keep the same "interface" as the parent but act differently

3. Super Keyword

   • What is it?
     • A way to override an override and call the original parent function
   • What is it for?
     • Mix custom and default behavior

4. Polymorphism

   • What is it?
     • Child classes can be grouped like they are an instance of the parent class but will still use overrides to behave like their unique sub class
   • What is it for?
     • Convenient way to group similar items into one array or collection. No more creating one collection per class type!
     • Stop worrying about which objects are which class. Trust each class to call the right version of overridable methods.