c# - How to hide an inherited property in a class without modifying the inherited class (base class)?

C# - How to hide an inherited property in a class without modifying the inherited class (base class)?

To hide an inherited property in a derived class in C# without modifying the base class, you can use the new keyword. This keyword allows you to hide the base class member by declaring a new member with the same name in the derived class.

Here's an example to illustrate how to hide an inherited property:

Example

Suppose you have a base class Person with a property Age:

public class Person { public int Age { get; set; } }

Now, you want to create a derived class Employee that hides the Age property. You can achieve this by using the new keyword in the derived class:

public class Employee : Person { // Hiding the Age property from the base class public new string Age { get { return "Age property is hidden"; } set { /* You can choose to handle the setter if needed */ } } }

Using the Hidden Property

When you use the Employee class, the Age property from the Person class will be hidden, and the Age property defined in the Employee class will be used instead:

public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { Employee employee = new Employee(); Console.WriteLine(employee.Age); // Output: "Age property is hidden" Person person = employee; Console.WriteLine(person.Age); // Output: The actual age from the base class } }

Explanation

  • new Keyword: The new keyword is used to hide the inherited Age property. The new Age property in the Employee class does not affect the base class property; it just hides it in the context of the derived class.
  • Accessing the Hidden Property: When you access the Age property through an Employee object, the new Age property in the Employee class is used. If you access it through a Person reference, the original Age property from the Person class is used.

Important Considerations

  • Hiding vs. Overriding: The new keyword hides the member, but it doesn't override it. Overriding is only applicable to virtual members, which means if the property in the base class is virtual, you'd use override in the derived class to change its behavior.
  • Polymorphism: Hiding a member does not support polymorphism. The type of the reference variable determines which member is accessed, not the type of the actual object.

This method allows you to hide an inherited property in the derived class effectively without modifying the base class.

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