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Inheritance in Python

  • Learn how classes inherit properties and methods in Python using different types of inheritance.

  • Inheritance

    Inheritance is an Object-Oriented Programming concept where a child class acquires properties and methods of a parent class.

    👉 Simple meaning:
     Child class uses parent class features

    Why Do We Use Inheritance?

    • Reuse existing code

    • Reduce code duplication

    • Improve maintainability

    • Create parent-child relationships

    • Support polymorphism

    Real-Life Example

    Family

    • Child inherits traits from parents

    This is Inheritance

    Basic Syntax of Inheritance

    class Parent:

        pass


    class Child(Parent):

        pass

    Types of Inheritance in Python

    Python supports 5 types of inheritance:

    1. Single Inheritance

    2. Multiple Inheritance

    3. Multilevel Inheritance

    4. Hierarchical Inheritance

    5. Hybrid Inheritance

    1.Single Inheritance

    One child class inherits from one parent class.


Python Inheritance Syntax 

# Parent class (Base class)
class Parent:
    pass  # pass means no code inside the class


# Child class (Derived class)
# Child inherits properties of Parent
class Child(Parent):
    pass  # Child currently has no extra features
Lesson image

Single Inheritance Example

The child class inherits properties from the parent class. 

class Parent:
    def show(self):
        print("This is Parent class")

class Child(Parent):
    def display(self):
        print("This is Child class")

c = Child()
c.show()
c.display()

  • 2.Multiple Inheritance

    One child class inherits from multiple parent classes.

Multiple Inheritance Syntax 

# First parent class
class Parent1:
    pass  # No code inside Parent1 for now


# Second parent class
class Parent2:
    pass  # No code inside Parent2 for now


# Child class inheriting from Parent1 and Parent2
class Child(Parent1, Parent2):
    pass  # Child can access properties of both Parent1 and Parent2
Lesson image

Multiple Inheritance Example

The child class accesses methods from both parent classes. 

    def skill1(self):
        print("Father: Driving")

class Mother:
    def skill2(self):
        print("Mother: Cooking")

class Child(Father, Mother):
    pass

c = Child()
c.skill1()
c.skill2()

  • 3.Multilevel Inheritance

    A class inherits from a child class (Parent → Child → Grandchild).

Multilevel Inheritance Syntax 

# GrandParent class (base class)
class GrandParent:
    pass  # No code inside GrandParent for now


# Parent class inherits from GrandParent
class Parent(GrandParent):
    pass  # Parent gets properties of GrandParent


# Child class inherits from Parent
class Child(Parent):
    pass  # Child gets properties of Parent and GrandParent
Lesson image

Multilevel Inheritance Example

Properties pass through multiple levels. 

class GrandParent:
    def g(self):
        print("Grandparent")

class Parent(GrandParent):
    def p(self):
        print("Parent")

class Child(Parent):
    def c(self):
        print("Child")

obj = Child()
obj.g()
obj.p()
obj.c()

  • 4.Hierarchical Inheritance

    Multiple child classes inherit from one parent class.

Hierarchical Inheritance syntax 

# Base (parent) class
class Parent:
    pass  # Common properties for all child classes

# First child class inheriting from Parent
class Child1(Parent):
    pass  # Child1 gets properties of Parent

# Second child class inheriting from Parent
class Child2(Parent):
    pass  # Child2 also gets properties of Parent
Lesson image

Hierarchical Inheritance Example

One parent class shared by multiple child classes. 

class Animal:
    def eat(self):
        print("Animal eats")

class Dog(Animal):
    pass

class Cat(Animal):
    pass

d = Dog()
c = Cat()

d.eat()
c.eat()

  • 5.Hybrid Inheritance

    Combination of two or more inheritance types.

Hybrid Inheritance syntax 

# Base class
class GrandParent:
    pass  # Top-level parent class


# Parent class inherits from GrandParent (Multilevel inheritance)
class Parent1(GrandParent):
    pass


# Another parent class
class Parent2:
    pass


# Child class inherits from Parent1 and Parent2 (Multiple inheritance)
class Child(Parent1, Parent2):
    pass  # Combination of multiple + multilevel inheritance
Lesson image

Hybrid Inheritance Example

This example combines multiple and hierarchical inheritance. 

class A:
    def a(self):
        print("Class A")

class B(A):
    pass

class C(A):
    pass

class D(B, C):
    pass

d = D()
d.a()

  • What is the super() Keyword?

    Definition

    super() is used to call methods or constructors of the parent class from the child class.

    Why Use super()?

    • Access parent class constructor

    • Avoid code duplication

    • Supports multiple inheritance

    • Improves maintainability

Inheritance Using super()

Child class calls parent constructor using super(). 

class Person:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

class Student(Person):
    def __init__(self, name, roll):
        super().__init__(name)
        self.roll = roll

    def show(self):
        print("Name:", self.name)
        print("Roll No:", self.roll)

s = Student("Rahul", 101)
s.show()

  • ❌ Inheritance Without super()

    Without super(), we must manually call the parent class constructor.

Inheritance Without super()

Parent constructor is called using class name. 

class Person:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

class Student(Person):
    def __init__(self, name, roll):
        Person.__init__(self, name)  # Without super
        self.roll = roll

    def show(self):
        print("Name:", self.name)
        print("Roll No:", self.roll)

s = Student("Amit", 102)
s.show()
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