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Software Engineering vocabulary · Programming Concepts

Inheritance

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, inheritance means: A relationship in which a class receives behavior or structure from another class and can add or change selected parts.

In Turkish: kalıtım

How it is used

Used in object-oriented design when discussing base classes, subclasses and shared behavior. Teams compare inheritance with composition before choosing a class structure.

Example sentences

  1. We replaced inheritance with composition to make the payment handlers easier to test.

  2. The diagram shows the inheritance between the base class and its subclasses.

Common collocations

  • class inheritance
  • multiple inheritance
  • inheritance hierarchy
  • classIn object-oriented programming, a template that defines the data and behavior of a type of object, such as a User or an Invoice.
  • object-oriented programmingA style of programming that organizes code into objects that combine data and behavior, built on ideas such as classes, inheritance and encapsulation.
  • interfaceIn programming, a list of methods that a class promises to provide, without saying how they work. More generally, the point where two systems, or a user and a system, meet.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Programming Concepts

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