Designing an Inheritance Hierarchy
Inheritance hierarchies are easier to implement than to design, which makes it risky to start coding before clearly identifying your needs. Correcting design mistakes in a class hierarchy after implementation can require code changes that disable existing applications. This section discusses inheritance-hierarchy design considerations, giving you information that can help you avoid such mistakes.
In This Section
- Class Hierarchy Design Considerations for Extensibility
Discusses how to design class hierarchies so they can be updated or extended by other developers.
- Considerations for Choosing Access Levels for Methods
Describes the correct use of accessibility levels within classes.
- Base Class Design Changes After Deployment
Explains issues that developers face when attempting to make changes to a class hierarchy.
Related Sections
- When to Use Interfaces
Discusses when to use interfaces instead of an inheritance hierarchy.
- Interfaces in Visual Basic
Summarizes how to design and implement interfaces.