Difference between Interfaces and Abstract Classes

: From the language perspective, there are several differences, few of them are:-

• An abstract class may contain fields, which are not ‘static’ and ‘final’ as is the case with interfaces.
• It may have few (or all) implemented methods as well, whereas Interfaces can’t have any implementation code. All the methods of an interface are by default ‘abstract’. Methods/Members of an abstract class may have any visibility: public, protected, private, none (package). But, those of an interface can have only one type of visibility: public.
• An abstract class automatically inherits the Object class and thereby includes methods like clone(), equals(), etc. There is no such thing with an interface. Likewise, an abstract class can have a constructor, but an interface can’t have one…
• Another very famous difference is that Interfaces are used to implement multiple inheritance in Java as a class in Java can explicitly have only one super class, but it can implement any number of interfaces… blah blah… :-)

From the performance perspective, the different is that Interfaces may be little slower as they require extra indirection to find the corresponding method in the actual class. Though, modern JVMs have already made that difference very little.

If you want to add a new method to an interface, then you either need to track all the classes implementing that interface or you’ll extend that interface to make a new interface having that extra method(s). In case of an abstract class, you’ll simply add the default implementation of that method and all the code will continue to work.

Many differences are listed already, but the main difference lies in the usage of the two. They are not rivals, but in most of the cases they are complimentary. We need to understand when to use what.

When to use an Interface: it asks you to start everything from scratch. You need to provide implementation of all the methods. So, you should use it to define the contract, which you’re unsure of how the different vendors/producers will implement. So, you can say that Interfaces can be used to enforce certain standards.

When to use an Abstract Class: it is used mostly when you’ve partial implementation ready with you, but not the complete. So, you may declare the incomplete methods as ‘abstract’ and leave it to the clients to implement it the way they actually want. Not all the details can be concrete at the base class level or different clients may like to implement the method differently.

When to use both: if you want to implement multiple inheritance where you have the luxury of providing partial implementation as well. You’ll then put all that code in an abstract class (this can be a concrete class as well… but here we assume that the class is also only partially implemented and hence an abstract class), extend that class, and implement as may interfaces as you want.

Update[June 25, 2008]: Do interfaces in Java really inherit the Object class? If NOT then how do we manage to call Object methods on the references of an interface type? Read more in this article - Do Interfaces inherit the Object class in Java?

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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.

Answers to Questions and Exercises: Object-Oriented Programming Concepts

Answers to Questions

1. Real-world objects contain state and behavior.
2. A software object's state is stored in fields.
3. A software object's behavior is exposed through methods.
4. Hiding internal data from the outside world, and accessing it only through publicly exposed methods is known as data encapsulation.
5. A blueprint for a software object is called a class.
6. Common behavior can be defined in a superclass and inherited into a subclass using the extends keyword.
7. A collection of methods with no implementation is called an interface.
8. A namespace that organizes classes and interfaces by functionality is called a package.
9. The term API stands for Application Programming Interface.

Answers to Exercises

1. Your answers will vary depending on the real-world objects that you are modeling.
2. Your answers will vary here as well, but the error message will specifically list the required methods that have not been implemented.

Questions and Exercises: Object-Oriented Programming Concepts

Questions

1. Real-world objects contain ___ and ___.
2. A software object's state is stored in ___.
3. A software object's behavior is exposed through ___.
4. Hiding internal data from the outside world, and accessing it only through publicly exposed methods is known as data ___.
5. A blueprint for a software object is called a ___.
6. Common behavior can be defined in a ___ and inherited into a ___ using the ___ keyword.
7. A collection of methods with no implementation is called an ___.
8. A namespace that organizes classes and interfaces by functionality is called a ___.
9. The term API stands for ___?

Exercises

1. Create new classes for each real-world object that you observed at the beginning of this trail. Refer to the Bicycle class if you forget the required syntax.
2. For each new class that you've created above, create an interface that defines its behavior, then require your class to implement it. Omit one or two methods and try compiling. What does the error look like?

What Is an Interface?

As you've already learned, objects define their interaction with the outside world through the methods that they expose. Methods form the object's interface with the outside world; the buttons on the front of your television set, for example, are the interface between you and the electrical wiring on the other side of its plastic casing. You press the "power" button to turn the television on and off.

In its most common form, an interface is a group of related methods with empty bodies. A bicycle's behavior, if specified as an interface, might appear as follows:

interface Bicycle {

       void changeCadence(int newValue);   // wheel revolutions per minute

       void changeGear(int newValue);

       void speedUp(int increment);

       void applyBrakes(int decrement);

}

To implement this interface, the name of your class would change (to a particular brand of bicycle, for example, such as ACMEBicycle), and you'd use the implements keyword in the class declaration:

class ACMEBicycle implements Bicycle {

   // remainder of this class implemented as before

}

Implementing an interface allows a class to become more formal about the behavior it promises to provide. Interfaces form a contract between the class and the outside world, and this contract is enforced at build time by the compiler. If your class claims to implement an interface, all methods defined by that interface must appear in its source code before the class will successfully compile.

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Note: 

To actually compile the ACMEBicycle class, you'll need to add the public keyword to the beginning of the implemented interface methods. You'll learn the reasons for this later in the lessons on Classes and Objects and Interfaces and Inheritance.