Single inheritance is one in which the derived class inherits the single base class. Whereas multiple inheritance is one in which the derived class acquires two or more base classes. Inheritance is a method that can derive or construct new classes from the existing class. Here our main topic of discussion is the difference between single inheritance and multiple inheritance, two types of inheritance.
In single inheritance, we only have one base class, which is inherited only by a derived class. In multiple inheritance we have more than two base classes that are inherited in combination by a single derived class. Any combination of inheritance greater than three (single, hierarchical, and multilevel) is called hybrid inheritance. In multilevel inheritance, we have a chain of inheritance.
This means that we have a parent class that is inherited by a derived class. The derived class, in turn, acts as the parent of another class and so on. When a class inherits another class that is inherited by another class, it is known as multilevel inheritance in C++. Inheritance is transitive, so the last derived class acquires all the members of all its base classes.
In multilevel inheritance, a class can inherit from a derived class. Therefore, the derived class becomes the base class of the new class. In this type of inheritance, a single-parent class has more than one secondary class. Allows access to the code of a class in more than one derived class.
Almost all computer languages that support object-oriented programming support hierarchical inheritance. The following figure shows this type of inheritance. Multiple inheritance allows the derived class to inherit combined characteristics from more than one base class, i. The advantage of this type of inheritance is that a secondary class accesses members of more than one parent class, making the most of the inheritance.
Python inheritance allows you to define a class that inherits all the methods and properties of another class. Based on the example above, all public and protected members of Class A are inherited in Class D, first through Class B and, second, through Class C. In this case, the derived class faces an ambiguity as to which base class the method should inherit. In this type of inheritance, a child class has more than one parent class and, therefore, inherits more than one base class.
Multiple inheritance is the process of deriving a new class that inherits the attributes of two or more classes. In simple terms, you can say that hybrid inheritance is a combination of single and multiple inheritance. Multiple inheritance is an inheritance method in which a derived class can inherit properties from the base class in different paths. Since there are multiple paths, the show () method succeeds and there is ambiguity as to which copy to inherit.
Although Java doesn't allow two classes to be inherited simultaneously, it does offer us a way to avoid this limitation. The levels of this type of inheritance can be extended to any number as long as clarity and simplicity are maintained. Members of the base class can be accessed by the derived class according to the access specifier specified during base class inheritance.
