Inheritance Object Model Concept

Inheritance in the object model is a means of defining one class in terms of another. This is common usage for most of us. For example, a conifer is a type of tree. There are certain characteristics that are true for all trees, yet there are specific characteristics for conifers.

Note that in an object model, there is no distinction in usage between system pre-defined types and user-defined types. This is known as extensibility. So it is possible to define a type as a sub-type of a system type or as a sub-type of a user-define type.

In this example, a Student is a type of Person. Likewise, a Employee is a type of Person. Both Student and Employee inherit all the attributes and methods of Person. Student has a locally defined student ID attribute. Employee has a locally defined employee ID attribute.

So, if you would look at a Student object, you would see attributes of name, date of birth, parents, children, and student ID.

For more on methods, see dispatching.

More Detail on Inheritance Object Model Concept

Dispatching Object Model Concept

Context for Inheritance Object Model Concept

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Author

Douglas K Barry

Principal

Barry & Associates, Inc.

The Savvy Manager's Guide

Douglas K Barry is also the author of a book that explains Web Services, service-oriented architecture, and Cloud Computing in an easy-to-understand, non-technical manner.

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by Douglas K Barry with David Dick

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