When a class inherits from another class, they form a pyramid of sorts with member variables flowing down from the parent class to any of its derived children. The parent class isn't aware of any of its children, but all children are aware of their parent. However, parent class constructors can be called directly from child constructors with a simple syntax modification:
public class ChildClass: ParentClass
{
public ChildClass(): base()
{
}
}
The base keyword stands in for the parent constructor—in this case, the default constructor. However, since base is standing in for a constructor, and a constructor is a method, a child class can pass parameters up the pyramid to its parent constructor.
