Note: For a discussion of the diamond problem, a classic multiple inheritance challenge, read Bill Venners’s “Designing with Interfaces” (JavaWorld, December 1998) and Tony Sintes’s ...

Java’s single inheritance limitation is usually not a problem in the normal course of development. In fact, the need to use multiple inheritance could be a sign of a bad design.

With multiple inheritance you might be tempted to say the Pegasus extends Horse and Bird because you've classified the Bird as an animal with wings. However, Birds have other traits that Pegasi don't.