What does 'inheritance' mean in object-oriented programming?

Inheritance in object-oriented programming is a fundamental concept that allows a new class, often referred to as a derived or child class, to acquire the properties and methods of an existing class, known as the base or parent class. This mechanism promotes code reuse and establishes a natural hierarchy between classes.

When a class inherits from another, it can access and utilize the data members (attributes) and functions (methods) defined in the parent class, facilitating the creation of more complex behaviors without the need to duplicate existing code. For example, if you have a parent class called "Animal" that has properties like "age" and a method called "eat," a child class "Dog" can inherit these attributes and behaviors, allowing it to automatically possess these characteristics while also being able to define its own unique attributes and methods, such as "bark."

This feature not only streamlines the development process but also enhances maintainability. If changes are needed, they can often be made in the parent class, and all child classes will reflect this modification, leading to a more organized and efficient codebase. Inheritance is a key concept that supports the principles of abstraction and polymorphism, further enriching the capabilities of object-oriented programming.