Parent Class

Definitions

1. A class from which another class (the child or subclass) inherits fields and methods, also called a superclass or base class. The parent class defines shared behavior and state that all its descendants can reuse or override.

   In plain English: A class that other classes are based on, passing down its features and behaviors like a template for its children.

   Example: "All our API controllers extend the parent class BaseController, which handles authentication and error formatting."

Related Terms

• Derived Type
• Mixin
• Method
• Method Override
• Method Resolution Order
• Override
• Setter
• Subclass
• Super
• Superclass