What is the Difference Between Inheritance and Containership?

Inheritance and containership are two different concepts in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) that deal with providing additional properties or behavior to a class. The main differences between them are:

1. Relationship: Inheritance represents an "is-a" relationship, where a derived class inherits properties and behavior from a base class, indicating that the derived class is a specialized form of the base class. On the other hand, containership represents a "has-a" relationship, where a class contains objects of different classes as member data.
2. Accessibility: In inheritance, the derived class can access and manipulate the public and protected member data of the base class. In containership, the containing class cannot access the protected or private members of the contained object.
3. Functionality: In inheritance, the derived class can override the functionality of the base class, adding new data or functions. In containership, the container class cannot add anything to the contained class or override its functionality.
4. Code Reusability: Inheritance provides code reusability by allowing the derived class to inherit properties and behavior from the base class. Containership, on the other hand, allows representing the association between objects of different classes.

In summary, inheritance is a powerful OOP concept that allows a class to inherit properties and behavior from a parent class, while containership allows a class to contain objects of different classes as member data, representing a different kind of relationship between classes.

Comparative Table: Inheritance vs Containership

Here is a table comparing the differences between inheritance and containership:

In summary, inheritance focuses on "is-a" relationships and code reuse, while containership focuses on "has-a" relationships and object composition. Inheritance allows a class to inherit characteristics and behaviors from another class, while containership allows a class to contain an object of a different class as a member data.