Mixins and Inheritance: What Every Developer Needs to Know
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In object-oriented programming, developers often get mixed up about the differences between Mixins and Inheritance.
Aren’t Mixins Just Inheritance in Disguise?
Why Call Them Mixins?
Do They Really Mix Something?
Can’t We Just Use Multiple Inheritance Instead?
When Should You Use Mixins Over Inheritance?
These questions likely come up frequently when you’re trying to understand the relationship between Mixins and Inheritance — they certainly did for me.
My first introduction to Mixins happened while I was learning Django. At that point, I already had a solid grasp of Inheritance, so when I encountered Mixins, I found it difficult to see how they were any different, since they appeared to function in much the same way.
However, as I dug deeper, I realized that there’s more to Mixins than meets the eye.
Mixins are indeed a form of inheritance, but they are used in a specific way that differs from traditional inheritance in object-oriented programming. Understanding the distinction between mixins and classical inheritance, as well as why mixins are named differently, can help…
