Multiple inheritance is a feature of some object-oriented computer programming languages in which a class can inherit characteristics and features from more than one superclass. It is distinct to single inheritance, where a class may only inherit from one particular superclass.
Languages that support multiple inheritance include C++, Common Lisp via the Common Lisp Object System, Perl and Python.
Multiple inheritance has been a touchy issue for many years, with opponents pointing to its increased complexity and ambiguity in situations such as the "diamond problem", where it may be ambiguous as to which superclass a particular feature is inherited from if more than one superclass implements said feature. This can be addressed in various ways, including using virtual inheritance.
Read more about Multiple Inheritance: Details, Implementations, The Diamond Problem
Famous quotes containing the words multiple and/or inheritance:
“There is a continual exchange of ideas between all minds of a generation. Journalists, popular novelists, illustrators, and cartoonists adapt the truths discovered by the powerful intellects for the multitude. It is like a spiritual flood, like a gush that pours into multiple cascades until it forms the great moving sheet of water that stands for the mentality of a period.”
—Auguste Rodin (1849–1917)
“Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?””
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 12:13,14.
Jesus.