The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
The term derived class relates to the inheritance of data and functions from a base class (which can also be referred to as a superclass). The derived class is a specialization of the base class. It contains all the features of the base class plus additional features unique to it.
Derived classes assume a prominent role in object-oriented programming design. In object-oriented programming each object has defined properties, which allows the object to assume a set function. The properties, and the corresponding function of an object, should be unique from those of other objects. However, objects can form groups with a common theme. This relatedness of objects can be beneficial in terms of programming function and programmers' time. Faced with this similarity, but needing to preserve the uniqueness of objects, the formation of derived classes preserves both grouping similarity and functional uniqueness.
The increased specialization of a derived class, relative to the parental base class, can be created in two ways. One way is by the addition of new data or functions of the data. The other way is by modifying the functions that are already in place.
Another invocation of the term subclass is in the Java programming language. Specifically, related applets--mini-programs that operate within another program--can be generated by creating applet subclasses from an applet class.