Unit 2

INHERITANCE AND INTERFACES

Inheritance – Super classes- sub classes –Protected members – constructors in sub classes- the Object class – abstract
classes and methods- final methods and classes – Interfaces – defining an interface, implementing interface,
differences between classes and interfaces and extending interfaces - Object cloning -inner classes, Array Lists -
Strings
Inheritance - Introduction
• Java is an object-oriented programming language that supports
inheritance.
• Inheritance is the ability to inherit the features and functionalities from
another class.
• It supports the reuse of the same code.
• It allows the programmer to define a class in terms of another class. A
relationship in Java means different relations between two or more classes.
• In Java, we can have a has-a relationship between classes, otherwise
known as composition.
• A composition is a form of association, where an association is a relation
between two classes that is established using their objects.
Inheritance
• Inheritance is one of the cornerstones of object-oriented
programming because it allows the creation of hierarchical
classifications.
• Using inheritance, you can create a general class that defines traits
common to a set of related items.
• In the terminology of Java, a class that is inherited is called a
superclass
• The class that does the inheriting is called a subclass.
• To inherit a class, you simply incorporate the definition of one class
into another by using the extends keyword
Super classes and Sub classes
• A class that is derived from another class is called a subclass (also a
derived class, extended class, or child class).
• The class from which the subclass is derived is called a superclass
(also a base class or a parent class)
Single Inheritance
Single Inheritance
• Single Inheritance is also known as basic inheritance and it is one of
the types of inheritance in object oriented programming.
• In single inheritance, the child or derived class inherits the properties
and behaviours directly from the single parent class.
• In this inheritance, the subclass has access to all the members from
the parent class except the private members.
Single Inheritance
• Single level inheritance is used in java to improve code organisation
and maintenance .
• It also helps in code reuse as the subclass can inherit and reuse the
code from the parent class and also can override, and add its own
features too.
• This approach reduces redundancy in the code as we are not writing
code again and again
Multi-level Inheritance
• In Multi-Level Inheritance in Java, a class extends to
another class that is already extended from another
class.
• For example, if there is a class A that extends class B
and class B extends from another class C, then this
scenario is known to follow Multi-level Inheritance.
Multilevel Inheritance
Hierarchical Inheritance

• In Hierarchical Inheritance, one class serves as a superclass

(base class) for more than one subclass. In the below image,
class A serves as a base class for the derived classes B, C, and
D.
Multiple Inheritance
• In Multiple inheritances, one class can have more than one superclass
and inherit features from all parent classes.
• Java does not support multiple inheritances with classes.
Hybrid Inheritance
• In general, the meaning of hybrid (mixture) is made of more
than one thing.
• In Java, the hybrid inheritance is the composition of two or
more types of inheritance.
• The main purpose of using hybrid inheritance is to
modularize the code into well-defined classes.
• It also provides the code reusability.
Hybrid Inheritance Example
Interface in Java
• Using interface, you can specify what a class must do, but not how it
does it.
• Once it is defined, any number of classes can implement an interface.
• Also, one class can implement any number of interfaces.
• By providing the interface keyword, Java allows you to fully utilize the
“one interface, multiple methods” aspect of polymorphism.
Interfaces (Cont..)
An interface is defined much like a class. This is a simplified general form of
an interface:
access interface name {
return-type method-name1(parameter-list);
return-type method-name2(parameter-list);
type varname1 = value;
type varname2 = value;
return-type method-nameN(parameter-list);
type varnameN = value;
}
Implementing Interfaces
• Once an interface has been defined, one or more classes can
implement that interface.
• To implement an interface, include the implements clause in a class
definition, and then create the methods defined by the interface.
class classname [extends superclass] [implements interface
[,interface...]] {
// class-body
}
Partial Implementations
If a class includes an interface but does not fully implement the methods
defined by that
interface, then that class must be declared as abstract. For example:
abstract class Incomplete implements Callback {
int a, b;
void show() {
System.out.println(a + " " + b);
}
//...
}
Method Overloading in Java

• When a class has two or more methods by the same name but
different parameters, at the time of calling based on the
parameters passed respective method is called as method
overloading.
Method Overriding in Java

• In method overriding, Super class and subclass have methods

with the same name including parameters.
• JVM calls the respective method based on the object used to
call the method.
Extending Interfaces
• An interface can extend other interfaces, just as a class subclass or
extend another class.
• A class can extend only one other class, an interface can extend any
number of interfaces.
• The interface declaration includes a comma-separated list of all the
interfaces that it extends.
Protected members
• The protected keyword in Java refers to one of its access
modifiers. The methods or data members declared as protected
can be accessed from
• Within the same class.
• Subclasses of the same packages.
• Different classes of the same packages.
• Subclasses of different packages.
Protected Members (Cont ..)
• If one wishes to access a protected modifier outside a package, then
inheritance is to be applied.
• Protecting a constructor prevents the users from creating the instance
of the class, outside the package.
• During overriding, when a variable or method is protected, it can be
overridden to other subclass using either a public or protected
modifier only.
• Outer class and interface cannot be protected.
Constructors in sub classes
• super ()keyword is used to access the parent class constructor
• super () can call both parametric as well as non-parametric
constructors depending upon the situation.
• Call to super() must be first statement in DerivedClass constructor.
• If a constructor does not explicitly invoke a superclass constructor by
using super(), the Java compiler automatically inserts a call to the no-
argument constructor of the superclass.
Super keyword
• The super keyword in Java is a reference variable that is used
to refer parent class objects.
• super can be used to call parent class’ variables and methods
• The variables and methods to be called through super keyword
can be done at any time,
Object Class
• The Object class is the parent class of all the classes in
java by default. In other words, it is the topmost class of
java.
• The Object class is beneficial if you want to refer any object
whose type you don't know.
• The Object class provides some common behaviors to all
the objects such as object can be compared, object can be
cloned, object can be notified etc.
Some Methods in Object class
Method Description

public final Class getClass() returns the Class class object of this
object. The Class class can further be
used to get the metadata of this class.
public int hashCode() returns the hashcode number for this
object.
public boolean equals(Object obj) compares the given object to this object.
protected Object clone() throws creates and returns the exact copy (clone)
CloneNotSupportedException of this object.
Object Cloning in Java

• The object cloning is a way to create exact copy of an

object.
• The clone() method of Object class is used to clone an
object.
• The java.lang.Cloneable interface must be implemented by
the class whose object clone we want to create. If we don't
implement Cloneable interface, clone() method
generates CloneNotSupportedException.
Object Cloning in Java (Cont..)
• It is the easiest and most efficient way for copying objects,
especially if we are applying it to an already developed or
an old project.
• Just define a parent class, implement Cloneable in it,
provide the definition of the clone() method and the task
will be done.
• The clone() method is defined in the Object class.
final methods and classes
• Final methods: When a method is declared as final, it cannot be
overridden by a subclass.
• Final classes: When a class is declared as final, it cannot be extended
by a subclass.
• Final variable: To create constant variable
Abstract Method

• A method declared using the abstract keyword within an abstract

class and does not have a definition (implementation) is called an
abstract method.
• When we need just the method declaration in a super class, it can be
achieved by declaring the methods as abstracts.
• Abstract method is also called subclass responsibility as it doesn't
have the implementation in the super class. Therefore a subclass
must override it to provide the method definition.
Abstract Method (Cont..)
• An abstract method do not have a body (implementation), they just
have a method signature (declaration). The class which extends the
abstract class implements the abstract methods.
• If a non-abstract (concrete) class extends an abstract class, then the
class must implement all the abstract methods of that abstract class.
If not the concrete class has to be declared as abstract as well.
Syntax for abstract methods
abstract return_type method_name( [ argument-list ] );
Inner Classes
• Java inner class or nested class is a class that is declared inside the class or interface.
• We use inner classes to logically group classes and interfaces in one place to be more
readable and maintainable.
• Additionally, it can access all the members of the outer class, including private data
members and methods.
Syntax
class Java_Outer_class{
//code
class Java_Inner_class{
//code
}
}
Advantages of Inner Class
• Nested classes represent a particular type of relationship
that is it can access all the members (data members and
methods) of the outer class, including private.
• Nested classes are used to develop more readable and
maintainable code because it logically group classes and
interfaces in one place only.
Static Inner Class

• An inner class can also be static, which means that you can access it
without creating an object of the outer class.
Private Inner Class

• Unlike a "regular" class, an inner class can be private.

• If you don't want outside objects to access the inner class, declare
the class as private
Array Lists
• Java ArrayList class uses a dynamic array for storing the elements.
• It is like an array, but there is no size limit. We can add or remove
elements anytime. So, it is much more flexible than the traditional
array.
• It is found in the java.util package.
• The ArrayList in Java can have the duplicate elements also.
• It implements the List interface so we can use all the methods of the
List interface here.
 ArrayLists (Cont..)

• As shown in the diagram, the Java ArrayList class

extends AbstractList class which implements the
List interface.

• The List interface extends the Collection and

Iterable interfaces in hierarchical order.
Constructors of ArrayList
Methods of ArrayList
void add(int index, E element) It is used to insert the specified element at
the specified position in a list.
boolean add(E e) It is used to append the specified element at
the end of a list.
boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c) It is used to append all of the elements in the
specified collection to the end of this list, in
the order that they are returned by the
specified collection's iterator.
boolean addAll(int index, Collection<? extends It is used to append all the elements in the
E> c) specified collection, starting at the specified
position of the list.
void clear() It is used to remove all of the elements from
this list.
void ensureCapacity(int requiredCapacity) It is used to enhance the capacity of an
ArrayList instance.
Strings
• In Java, a string is an object that represents a sequence of
characters or char values.
• The java.lang.String class is used to create a Java string
object.
• There are two ways to create a String object:
1.By string literal : Example: String s=“Hello”;
2.By new keyword : String s=new String(“Hello”);
Java String Pool
• Java String pool refers to collection of Strings which are
stored in heap memory.
Method Description Return Type
charAt() Returns the character at the specified index (position) char
codePointAt() Returns the Unicode of the character at the specified index int
codePointBefore() Returns the Unicode of the character before the specified index int
codePointCount() Returns the number of Unicode values found in a string. int
compareTo() Compares two strings lexicographically int
compareToIgnoreCase() Compares two strings lexicographically, ignoring case differences int
concat() Appends a string to the end of another string String
contains() Checks whether a string contains a sequence of characters boolean
contentEquals() Checks whether a string contains the exact same sequence of boolean
characters of the specified CharSequence or StringBuffer
copyValueOf() Returns a String that represents the characters of the character array String

endsWith() Checks whether a string ends with the specified character(s) boolean
equals() Compares two strings. Returns true if the strings are equal, and false if boolean
not
equalsIgnoreCase() Compares two strings, ignoring case considerations boolean
getBytes() Encodes this String into a sequence of bytes using the named charset, byte[]
storing the result into a new byte array