Wrox Press C++ Tutorial

Chapter 8 - Class Inheritance

In this chapter, we're going to look into a topic that lies at the heart of object-oriented programming - inheritance. Simply put, inheritance is the means by which you can define a new class in terms of one you already have. Inheritance comes up time and again in C++ programming, so it's important that you understand how inheritance works.

In this chapter you will learn about:

• How inheritance fits into the idea of object-oriented programming
  
  
• Defining a new class in terms of an existing one
  
  
• The use of the keyword protected to define a new access specification for class members
  
  
• How a class can be a friend to another class
  
  
• Virtual functions and how you can use them
  
  
• Pure virtual functions
  
  
• Abstract classes
  
  
• Virtual destructors and when to use them
  
  
• Multiple inheritance
  
  
• Dynamic casts