Inheritance in Visual Basic

Visual Basic supports inheritance, which is the ability to define classes that serve as the basis for derived classes. Derived classes inherit, and can extend, the properties, methods, and events of the base class. Derived classes can also override inherited methods with new implementations. By default, all classes created with Visual Basic are inheritable.

Inheritance lets you write and debug a class one time and then reuse that code as the basis of new classes. Inheritance also lets you use inheritance-based polymorphism, which is the ability to define classes that can be used interchangeably by client code at run time, but with functionally different, yet identically named methods or properties.

In This Section

• Inheritance Basics
  Covers inheritance modifiers, overriding methods and properties, MyClass, and MyBase.

• How to: Create Derived Classes
  Provides a step-by-step description of how to create derived classes.

• When to Use Inheritance
  Discusses when to use inheritance instead of interfaces.

• Inheritance and the .NET Framework
  Explains how the .NET Framework supports inheritance.

• Walkthrough: Implementing Inheritance with COM Objects
  Describes using existing COM objects as the basis for new objects.

• Inheritance and the Base Object Class
  Provides an overview of the class that serves as the basis for all other classes.

• How New and Finalize Methods Work in a Class Hierarchy
  Describes how constructors and destructors are called in a class hierarchy.

• Polymorphism
  Summarizes polymorphism and how it is used.

• Designing an Inheritance Hierarchy
  Provides information about how to design and implement a class hierarchy.

Related Sections

• Interfaces in Visual Basic
  Summarizes what interfaces are and how they are used.

• Object-Oriented Programming in Visual Basic
  Introduces the concepts of object-oriented programming as they are used in Visual Basic.