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Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) comprises several foundational concepts, including inheritance and composition. While often compared, these techniques serve different goals yet frequently complement each other in producing effective designs.
This article elucidates inheritance and composition in Python, highlighting their importance, strengths, weaknesses, and nuanced interactions.
What is Inheritance?
Inheritance defines a mechanism whereby a derived class (also termed subclass or child class) obtains attributes and methods from a base class (alternatively known as superclass or parent class). Such transfer facilitates code reusability, simplified maintenance, and logical structuring of related objects.
Nonetheless, excessive reliance on inheritance can engender brittle dependencies, diminished testability, and convoluted class hierarchies. Therefore, practitioners advocate exercising restraint and considering alternative approaches like composition.
