9/1/2021 Java and Multiple Inheritance - GeeksforGeeks

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Java and Multiple Inheritance

Difficulty Level :
Medium ● Last Updated :
09 May, 2020

Multiple Inheritance is a feature of object oriented concept, where a class can inherit

proper ties of more than one parent class. The problem occurs when there exist

methods with same signature in both the super classes and subclass. On calling the

method, the compiler cannot determine which class method to be called and even on

calling which class method gets the priority.

Why Java doesn’t suppor t Multiple Inheritance?

Consider the below Java code. It shows error.

// First Parent class

class Parent1
{
    void fun()
    {
        System.out.println("Parent1");
    }
}
  
// Second Parent Class
class Parent2
{
    void fun()
    {
        System.out.println("Parent2");
    }
}
  
// Error : Test is inheriting from multiple
// classes
class Test extends Parent1, Parent2
{
   public static void main(String args[])
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   {
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       Test t = new Test();
       t.fun(); Got It !
   }
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9/1/2021 Java and Multiple Inheritance - GeeksforGeeks

Output :

Compiler Error

From the code, we see that, on calling the method fun() using Test object will cause

complications such as whether to call Parent1’s fun() or Parent2’s fun() method.

1. The Diamond Problem:

The below Java program throws compiler error when run. Multiple inheritance causes

diamond problem when allowed in other languages like C++.

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GrandParent
/ \

/ \

Parent1 Parent2

\ /

\ /

Test

// A Grand parent class in diamond

class GrandParent
{
    void fun()
    {
        System.out.println("Grandparent");
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}
Got It !
  

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9/1/2021 Java and Multiple Inheritance - GeeksforGeeks

// First Parent class

class Parent1 extends GrandParent
{
    void fun()
    {
        System.out.println("Parent1");
    }
}
  
// Second Parent Class
class Parent2 extends GrandParent
{
    void fun()
    {
        System.out.println("Parent2");
    }
}
  
  
// Error : Test is inheriting from multiple
// classes
class Test extends Parent1, Parent2
{
   public static void main(String args[])
   {
       Test t = new Test();
       t.fun();
   }
}

Output :

Error :

prog.java:31: error: '{' expected

class Test extends Parent1, Parent2

1 error

From the code, we see that: On calling the method fun() using Test object will cause

complications such as whether to call Parent1’s fun() or Child’s fun() method.

Therefore, in order to avoid such complications Java does not suppor t multiple

inheritance of classes.

2. Simplicity – Multiple inheritance is not suppor ted by Java using classes , handling

the complexity that causes due to multiple inheritance is ver y complex. It creates

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all reason is that there are ver y few scenarios on which we actually need multiple

Got It !
inheritance, so better to omit it for keeping the things simple and straightfor ward.

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9/1/2021 Java and Multiple Inheritance - GeeksforGeeks

How are above problems handled for Default Methods and Inter faces ?

Java 8 suppor ts default methods where inter faces can provide default implementation

of methods. And a class can implement two or more inter faces. In case both the

implemented inter faces contain default methods with same method signature, the

implementing class should explicitly specif y which default method is to be used or it

should override the default method.

// A simple Java program to demonstrate multiple

// inheritance through default methods.
interface PI1
{
    // default method
    default void show()
    {
        System.out.println("Default PI1");
    }
}
  
interface PI2
{
    // Default method
    default void show()
    {
        System.out.println("Default PI2");
    }
}
  
// Implementation class code
class TestClass implements PI1, PI2
{
    // Overriding default show method
    public void show()
    {
        // use super keyword to call the show
        // method of PI1 interface
        PI1.super.show();
  
        // use super keyword to call the show
        // method of PI2 interface
        PI2.super.show();
    }
  
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        TestClass d = new TestClass();
        d.show();
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}
Got It !

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9/1/2021 Java and Multiple Inheritance - GeeksforGeeks

Output:

Default PI1

Default PI2

If we remove implementation of default method from “ TestClass”, we get compiler

error. See this for a sample run.

If there is a diamond through inter faces, then there is no issue if none of the middle

inter faces provide implementation of root inter face. If they provide implementation,

then implementation can be accessed as above using super keyword.

// A simple Java program to demonstrate how diamond

// problem is handled in case of default methods
  
interface GPI
{
    // default method
    default void show()
    {
        System.out.println("Default GPI");
    }
}
  
interface PI1 extends GPI { }
  
interface PI2 extends GPI { }
  
// Implementation class code
class TestClass implements PI1, PI2
{
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        TestClass d = new TestClass();
        d.show();
    }
}

Output:

Default GPI

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Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more

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