Why can inheritance in programming be bad or inconvenient?

• Single Inheritance Paradox: A class can inherit behavior from only one parent class, which limits flexibility.
• Coupling: The subclass is strongly linked to the parent. Changes in the parent class can "break" the subclass.
• Fragile Hierarchy Problem: Changes in the base class can unexpectedly affect derived classes.
• Liskov Substitution Principle violation potential: A subclass may not always be used in place of the parent without affecting program correctness.
• God Class: The inheritance hierarchy can lead to large, monolithic base classes that contain too much responsibility.
• Refactoring difficulty: Changing the inheritance hierarchy requires significant effort.

Alternatives:

• Composition over inheritance: Favoring object composition over inheritance to achieve flexibility and reduce coupling.
• Interfaces and Protocols: Defining behavior contracts instead of implementation.