In the context of programming, what does 'inheritance' refer to?

Inheritance in programming is a core concept of object-oriented programming (OOP) that allows one class (often referred to as a child or subclass) to inherit attributes and methods from another class (known as the parent or superclass). This relationship enables code reuse, which promotes efficiency and reduces redundancy in programming.

The child class can leverage the properties and behaviors defined in the parent class without needing to duplicate that code, allowing developers to create a hierarchy of classes. This structure makes it easier to manage and extend the codebase, as any changes made to the parent class can be automatically reflected in all child classes, unless those attributes or methods are specifically overridden.

For example, if there is a superclass called "Animal" that has a method "makeSound," a subclass called "Dog" can inherit this method and also provide its own implementation if needed, while still being able to use the common functionality defined in "Animal." This hierarchical organization enhances maintainability and scalability in software development.

Understanding inheritance is essential for mastering object-oriented design principles, as it plays a significant role in modeling real-world relationships through code, enabling complexity to be handled in a more structured manner.