Inheritance is a powerful feature in Java programming language that allows a class to inherit properties and behavior from a parent class. This mechanism enables the creation of a new class by inheriting the characteristics of an existing class, thereby reducing code duplication and enabling efficient code management.
When creating a subclass, which is a class that inherits from a parent class or superclass, the ‘extends’ keyword is used. For instance, to create a subclass called ‘ChildClass’ that inherits from a superclass called ‘ParentClass’, the following code can be used:
public class ChildClass extends ParentClass {
// subclass methods and variables
}
In the above example, the subclass ‘ChildClass’ can inherit members such as variables and methods from the superclass ‘ParentClass’. This means that the subclass will have access to all the methods and variables of the superclass, without having to declare them again.
To use superclass members in the subclass, the ‘super’ keyword is used. This keyword is used to refer to the immediate parent class. For example, to call a method from the superclass, the following code can be used:
public class ChildClass extends ParentClass {
public void childMethod() {
super.superclassMethod();
// other child class code
}
}
In the above example, the ‘childMethod()’ in the subclass can call the ‘superclassMethod()’ from the superclass using the ‘super’ keyword. This way, the subclass can leverage the functionality of the superclass while still maintaining its own unique features.
In conclusion, inheritance is a vital programming concept in Java that enables the creation of new classes with the properties and behavior of existing classes. It is an essential technique that helps in reducing code duplication, enables efficient code management, and improves code readability.
