To inherit a class, you simply incorporate the definition of one class into another by using the extends keyword.
Java supports only Single-Inheritance in the case of classes to avoid ambiguity and complexity although it supports Multiple-Inheritance in the case of interfaces.
The general form for deriving a sub-class from an existing class is as follows:
class <sub-class> extends <base-class>
{
<class-definition>
}
The derived class will have all the features of base-class in addition to the new features defined in the extended class. Java does not support multiple-inheritance so sub-class can extend only one base-class. It is possible that two different classes can extend the same base-class. A sub-class can also be further extended and the hierarchy can go to any depth. Thus by extending a base-class we can form hierarchy of classes all derived from the same base class.
Java supports only Single-Inheritance in the case of classes to avoid ambiguity and complexity although it supports Multiple-Inheritance in the case of interfaces.
The general form for deriving a sub-class from an existing class is as follows:
class <sub-class> extends <base-class>
{
<class-definition>
}
The derived class will have all the features of base-class in addition to the new features defined in the extended class. Java does not support multiple-inheritance so sub-class can extend only one base-class. It is possible that two different classes can extend the same base-class. A sub-class can also be further extended and the hierarchy can go to any depth. Thus by extending a base-class we can form hierarchy of classes all derived from the same base class.