Software Design Concerns Associated with Simulating Multiple Inheritance in Java for Implementation Purposes

Abstract

OO software development has become the dominant development approach with Java as the common implementation language. A well-known drawback in Java is its limitation in implementing multiple inheritance which is considered by many researchers a fundamental concept in OO. Approaches in simulating multiple inheritance in Java have been thought of and implemented. In this paper some of these approaches are presented and their negative side effects on the developed software are highlighted. The paper addresses important aspects related to implementing multiple inheritance in Java that may be neglected by developers, and proposes two additional steps in the development life cycle when implementing a system with multiple inheritance relationship(s) in Java. This proposed solution as illustrated with examples ensures proper software development practice throughout the development stages even if there are specific requirements to implement multiple inheritance in Java.