Difference bet Implements and Extends

Implements and Extends are two keywords that provide a mechanism to inherit attributes and behavior to a class in Java programming language, they are used for two different purposes. Implements keyword is used for a class to implement a certain interface, while Extends keyword is used for a subclass to extend from a super class. When a class implements an interface, that class needs to implement all the methods defined in the interface, but when a subclass extends a super class, it may or may not override the methods included in the parent class. Finally, another key difference between Implements and Extends is that, a class can implement multiple interfaces but it can only extend from one super class in Java. In general, usage of Implements (interfaces) is considered more favorable compared to the usage of Extends (inheritance), for several reasons like higher flexibility and the ability to minimize coupling. Therefore in practice, programming to an interface is preferred over extending from base classes.

 benefits of inheritance

One of the key benefits of inheritance is to minimise the amount of duplicate code in an application by putting common code in a superclass and sharing amongst several subclasses. Where equivalent code exists in two related classes, the hierarchy can usually be refactored to move the common code up to a mutual superclass. This also tends to result in a better organisation of code and smaller, simpler compilation units.
Inheritance can also make application code more flexible to change because classes that inherit from a common superclass can be used interchangeably. If the return type of a method is superclass Example, then the application can be adapted to return any class that is descended from Example.