class hierarchy
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- US Pronunciation
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Definition of class hierarchy words
- noun Technical meaning of class hierarchy (programming) In object-oriented programming, a set of classes related by inheritance. Each class is a "subclass" of another class - its "superclass". The subclass contains all the features of its superclass, but may add new features or redefine existing features. The features of a class are the set of attributes (or "properties") that an object of that class has and the methods that can be invoked on it. If each class has a just one superclass, this is called single inheritance. The opposite is multiple inheritance, under which a class may have multiple superclasses. Single inheritance gives the class hierarchy a tree structure whereas multiple inheritance gives a directed graph. Typically there is one class at the top of the hierarchy which is the "object" class, the most general class that is an ancestor of all others and which has no superclass. In computing, as in genealogy, trees grow downwards, which is why subclasses are considered to be "below" their superclasses. When invoking a method on an object, the method is first looked for in the object's class, then the superclass of that class, and so on up the hierarchy until it is found. Thus a class need only define those methods which are specific to it and it will inherit all other methods from all its superclasses. An object of the subclass can do everything that an object of the superclass can and possible more. 1
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Parts of speech for Class hierarchy
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with c
- Words starting with cl
- Words starting with cla
- Words starting with clas
- Words starting with class
- Words starting with classh
- Words starting with classhi
- Words starting with classhie
- Words starting with classhier
- Words starting with classhiera
- Words starting with classhierar
- Words starting with classhierarc
- Words starting with classhierarch
- Words starting with classhierarchy
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