Python inheritance types
- Single Inheritance: In single inheritance, a derived class inherits from a single base class. This is the simplest form of inheritance where a child class inherits properties and methods from a single parent class. For example:
1class Parent: 2 pass 3 4class Child(Parent): 5 pass
- Multiple Inheritance: In multiple inheritance, a derived class inherits from multiple base classes. This allows a class to inherit properties and methods from more than one parent class. For example:
1class Parent1: 2 pass 3 4class Parent2: 5 pass 6 7class Child(Parent1, Parent2): 8 pass
- Multi-level Inheritance: In multi-level inheritance, a derived class inherits from a base class which in turn inherits from another base class. This creates a hierarchical chain of inheritance. For example:
1class Grandparent: 2 pass 3 4class Parent(Grandparent): 5 pass 6 7class Child(Parent): 8 pass
It's important to note that, Python also supports a special type of inheritance called Diamond Inheritance, where a class can inherit from multiple classes that have a common base class. This can lead to an ambiguity problem called the "diamond problem" which can be resolved using the method resolution order (MRO) algorithm.
In Python, there are three types of inheritance: Single Inheritance, where a derived class inherits from a single base class, Multiple Inheritance, where a derived class inherits from multiple base classes and Multi-level Inheritance, where a derived class inherits from a base class which in turn inherits from another base class. Understanding these types of inheritance is essential for creating reusable and maintainable code in Python, and also for understanding how to resolve ambiguity problems.