In the world of object-oriented programming (OOP), inheritance is a fundamental concept that allows you to create new classes based on existing ones, promoting code reuse and maintainability. Among the different types of inheritance, hierarchical inheritance stands out as a powerful technique that enables you to create a hierarchy of classes, where multiple derived classes inherit from a single base class.
In this article, we’ll explore hierarchical inheritance in Python, its benefits, and how to implement it effectively.
Understanding Hierarchical Inheritance
Hierarchical inheritance is a type of inheritance where multiple derived classes inherit from a single base class. This creates a hierarchical structure, with the base class at the top and the derived classes branching out from it.
Each derived class inherits the attributes and methods of the base class, while also having the ability to add or override its own unique characteristics. Here’s a simple example to illustrate hierarchical inheritance:
class Animal:
def __init__(self, name)…