What type of inheritance allows an application to share rules across multiple applications?

The correct answer is pattern inheritance. Pattern inheritance allows an application to share rules across multiple applications, providing a flexible structure that can improve maintenance and reduce redundancy. It functions by enabling applications to inherit from a defined "pattern," which encapsulates the requisite rules and functionalities. This allows different applications to reference and utilize shared behaviors or components without duplicating code, thereby fostering consistency and efficiency across the applications.

The concept of pattern inheritance is particularly beneficial in scenarios where multiple applications might require similar functionalities but also need to maintain their own unique features. By using pattern inheritance, an organization can implement best practices and establish a standard way of building applications that all derived applications can adhere to.

This approach contrasts with other inheritance types. For instance, direct inheritance only allows a single application to inherit from another directly, which can lead to less flexibility and potential challenges when multiple applications need to share the same set of rules. Shared inheritance, while sounding similar, is not a recognized type in this context, and multiple inheritance can introduce complexity and ambiguity in applications due to the potential of inheriting conflicting rules from different sources.