On the notion of inheritance

ABSTRACT

One of the most intriguing—and at the same time most problematic—notions in object-oriented programing is inheritance. Inheritance is commonly regarded as the feature that distinguishes object-oriented programming from other modern programming paradigms, but researchers rarely agree on its meaning and usage. Yet inheritance of often hailed as a solution to many problems hampering software development, and many of the alleged benefits of object-oriented programming, such as improved conceptual modeling and reusability, are largely credited to it. This article aims at a comprehensive understanding of inheritance, examining its usage, surveying its varieties, and presenting a simple taxonomy of mechanisms that can be seen as underlying different inheritance models.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications
          Subjects: Object-oriented languages

General Terms:
Languages

Keywords:
delegation, incremental modification, inheritance, language constructs, object-oriented programming, programming languages