class hierarchy

programming A set of classes and their interrelationships.

One class may be a specialisation (a "subclass" or "derivedclass") of another which is one of its "superclasses" or

"base classes".

When a method is invoked on an object it 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

inherits methods from all its superclasses.

See also: multiple inheritance.

(1997-08-06)