Aggregation

In this lesson, we'll learn a new way of linking different classes.

We'll cover the following

Aggregation is very similar to composition. It also follows the Has-A model. This creates a parent-child relationship between two classes, with one class owning the object of another.

So, what makes aggregation unique?

Independent Lifetimes

In aggregation, the lifetime of the owned object does not depend on the lifetime of the owner.

The owner object could get deleted but the owned object can continue to exist in the program. In composition, the parent contains a child object. This bounds the child to its parent. In aggregation, the parent only contains a reference to the child, which removes the child’s dependency.

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