In object-oriented programming, allows a new class to automatically use all the data and methods of its parent class.

Inheritance

Explanation enables a new object to be defined in object oriented programming so that it inherits the attributes that were previously defined in another object (called the parent object).

A class defines an object in terms of its attributes (properties), and methods that are used to operate on the object.

Example:
An object defined as "human being" may have defined to have attributes that are common to all human beings such as gender, age, height, and intelligence quotient.
Methods for this object may include "eats nutritional meals", "drinks moderately", "is married", and so on.

Another object could be defined as "a cancer patient" who inherits the properties of a "human being" as well as the methods that apply to a "human being". However, the new object has additional attributes such as "is prone to infection", "needs chemotherapy", and so on. It may also define new methods that describe how the disease is being treated.