Description: The inheritance hierarchy is a structure that shows the relationship between classes in terms of inheritance. In object-oriented programming, especially in languages like C++, inheritance allows one class (called a derived class or subclass) to inherit attributes and methods from another class (called a base class or superclass). This hierarchical relationship facilitates code reuse and the creation of more complex structures from simpler components. The inheritance hierarchy can be simple, where one class derives from a single base class, or multiple, where a class can inherit from several base classes. This feature allows developers to model real-world relationships more effectively, reflecting the hierarchical nature of many entities. Additionally, the inheritance hierarchy promotes the Liskov substitution principle, which states that objects of a derived class should be able to substitute objects of the base class without altering the program’s behavior. In C++, the inheritance hierarchy is implemented using the ‘class’ keyword, and the type of inheritance (public, protected, or private) can be specified to control access to the members of the base class. This structure not only organizes the code more clearly but also improves the maintainability and scalability of applications in general.
