Welcome back! Now that you have a solid understanding of classes and objects in C#, it's time to build on that knowledge by exploring inheritance. Consider it a natural progression in our journey into object-oriented programming (OOP).

Inheritance allows you to create a new class based on an existing class. By using inheritance, you can reuse code, add new features, and make your programs easier to manage and understand. Let's dive in and see what it's all about.

Let's start by defining a simple base class:

C#
Copy to clipboard
1public class Person
2{
3    public string Name { get; set; }
4    public int Age { get; set; }
5
6    public Person(string name, int age)
7    {
8        this.Name = name;
9        this.Age = age;
10    }
11
12    public void Display()
13    {
14        Console.WriteLine($"Name: {Name}, Age: {Age}");
15    }
16}

In this C# example, the Person class includes:

• Name and Age properties.
• A constructor to initialize these properties.
• A Display method to print out the name and age.

This class serves as the base class from which other classes can inherit.

Now, we define a derived class that inherits from the base class:

C#
Copy to clipboard
1// Defines the Student class that inherits from the Person class
2public class Student : Person
3{
4    // New property specific to Student
5    public string Major { get; set; }
6
7    // Constructor to initialize properties, including those from the base class
8    public Student(string name, int age, string major) : base(name, age)
9    {
10        this.Major = major;
11    }
12
13    // Method to display student's information
14    public void DisplayStudent()
15    {
16        // Call the Display method from the Person class to show name and age
17        base.Display();
18        // Display the student's major
19        Console.WriteLine($"Major: {Major}");
20    }
21}

In this example, the Student class inherits from the Person class:

• Reuses the Name and Age properties and the Display method from the Person class.
• Adds a new property, Major.
• Provides a new method, DisplayStudent, that calls the base class Display method and prints the student's major.
• Uses the base keyword to call the constructor and methods of the Person class.

Finally, let's test the inheritance by creating and using objects of the derived class:

C#
Copy to clipboard
1public class Program
2{
3    static void Main()
4    {
5        Student student = new Student("Bob", 25, "Computer Science");
6        student.DisplayStudent();
7
8        // Output:
9        // Name: Bob, Age: 25
10        // Major: Computer Science
11    }
12}

In this code:

• We create a Student object.
• The student object calls the DisplayStudent method, which internally calls the Display method inherited from the Person class and then prints the major.

This demonstrates how inheritance allows for code reuse and maintains fundamental behavior while introducing new features in derived classes.

Inheritance in C# allows you to build on existing classes and reuse code efficiently. By using inheritance, you can create a class hierarchy that mirrors real-world relationships and provides a clear and maintainable structure for your applications.

Understanding and leveraging inheritance will enable you to design flexible, scalable, and organized object-oriented applications. With inheritance, you can extend existing functionalities, reduce code duplication, and develop more robust and readable programs.

Excited to start practicing? Let's move on and put this theory into action!