What are the differences between public, protected, and private inheritance?

Can you explain the differences between public, protected, and private inheritance?

Sure! In public inheritance, base class members are accessible as public members in the derived class. In protected inheritance, they are accessible as protected members, and in private inheritance, they are accessible only within the derived class.

What does that mean in practical terms?

In practical terms, public inheritance allows derived classes to use base class methods and properties freely. Protected inheritance restricts access to derived classes and their subclasses, while private inheritance hides base class members completely from outside access.

Can you give an example of each type?

Certainly! For public inheritance, think of a class Animal and a class Dog that inherits from it. For protected, imagine a class Base and a class Derived where Derived can access Base members but not outside classes. For private, consider a class Base that is inherited by Derived, but Derived cannot expose Base members to any other class.

Why would I choose one type over another?

Choosing the type of inheritance depends on the level of access control you need. Public is best for general use, protected is useful for restricting access to subclasses, and private is ideal for encapsulation when you want to hide implementation details.