C# Hierarchical Inheritance

In C#, Hierarchical Inheritance is a type of inheritance in which a class is derived from more than one class. In this type of inheritance, two or more derived classes inherit properties and methods from a single base class. It is also known as Multi-Inheritance.

Let's understand this with the help of an example.

Example:

1using System;
2
3public class Animal
4{
5    public void Eat()
6    {
7        Console.WriteLine("Eating...");
8    }
9}
10
11public class Dog : Animal
12{
13    public void Bark()
14    {
15        Console.WriteLine("Barking...");
16    }
17}
18
19public class Cat : Animal
20{
21    public void Meow()
22    {
23        Console.WriteLine("Meowing...");
24    }
25}
26
27public class Program
28{
29    public static void Main()
30    {
31        Dog dog = new Dog();
32        dog.Eat(); // Calling Eat() method of Animal class through Dog class object
33        dog.Bark(); // Calling Bark() method of Dog class
34
35        Cat cat = new Cat();
36        cat.Eat(); // Calling Eat() method of Animal class through Cat class object
37        cat.Meow(); // Calling Meow() method of Cat class
38    }
39}

In the above example, we have created a base class Animal, and two derived classes Dog and Cat, which are inheriting the Animal class. Both derived classes are using the Eat() method of the Animal class and implementing their own unique methods.

When we create objects of derived classes, they can access the Eat() method of the base class using the this keyword.

This is how we can implement hierarchical inheritance in C#.