Introduction to Java Classes

    A class is nothing but a blueprint or a template for creating different objects which defines its properties and behaviors. Java class objects exhibit the properties and behaviors defined by its class. A class can contain fields and methods to describe the behavior of an object.

Methods are nothing but members of a class that provide a service for an object or perform some business logic. Java fields and member functions names are case sensitive. Current states of a class’s corresponding object are stored in the object’s instance variables. Methods define the operations that can be performed in java programming.

       A class has the following general syntax:

<class modifiers>class<class name>
            <extends clause> <implements clause>{

 // Dealing with Classes (Class body)
     <field declarations (Static and Non-Static)>
     <method declarations (Static and Non-Static)>
     <Inner class declarations>
     <nested interface declarations>
     <constructor declarations>
     <Static initializer blocks>
}

Below is an example showing the Objects and Classes of the Cube class that defines 3 fields namely length, breadth and height. Also the class contains a member function getVolume().

How do you reference a data member/function?

This is accomplished by stating the name of the object reference, followed by a period (dot), followed by the name of the member inside the object.
( objectReference.member ). You call a method for an object by naming the object followed by a period (dot), followed by the name of the method and its argument list, like this: objectName.methodName(arg1, arg2, arg3).

For example:

cubeObject.length = 4;
cubeObject.breadth = 4;
cubeObject.height = 4;
cubeObject.getvolume()

Class Variables – Static Fields

   We use class variables also know as Static fields when we want to share characteristics across all objects within a class. When you declare a field to be static, only a single instance of the associated variable is created common to all the objects of that class. Hence when one object changes the value of a class variable, it affects all objects of the class. We can access a class variable by using the name of the class, and not necessarily using a reference to an individual object within the class. Static variables can be accessed even though no objects of that class exist. It is declared using static keyword.

Class Methods – Static Methods

Class methods, similar to Class variables can be invoked without having an instance of the class. Class methods are often used to provide global functions for Java programs. For example, methods in the java.lang.Math package are class methods. You cannot call non-static methods from inside a static method.

Instance Variables

   Instance variables stores the state of the object. Each class would have its own copy of the variable. Every object has a state that is determined by the values stored in the object. An object is said to have changed its state when one or more data values stored in the object have been modified. When an object responds to a message, it will usually perform an action, change its state etc. An object that has the ability to store values is often said to have persistence.

Consider this simple Java program showing the use of static fields and static methods

Method Overloading

   Method overloading results when two or more methods in the same class have the same name but different parameters. Methods with the same name must differ in their types or number of parameters. This allows the compiler to match parameters and choose the correct method when a number of choices exist. Changing just the return type is not enough to overload a method, and will be a compile-time error. They must have a different signature. When no method matching the input parameters is found, the compiler attempts to convert the input parameters to types of greater precision. A match may then be found without error. At compile time, the right implementation is chosen based on the signature of the method call

Below is an example of a class demonstrating Method Overloading

Output

No parameters

One parameter: 2

Two parameters: 10 , 20
Sum is 30

Two double parameters: 1.1 , 2.2
Sum is 3.3000000000000003

Below is a code snippet to shows the interfaces that a Class Implements:

 

Below is a code snippet to show whether a Class Object Represents a Class or Interface:

 

Java Access Specifiers

    The access to classes, constructors, methods and fields are regulated using access modifiers i.e. a class can control what information or data can be accessible by other classes. To take advantage of encapsulation, you should minimize access whenever possible.

Java provides a number  of access modifiers to help you set the level of access you want for classes as well as the fields, methods and constructors in your classes. A member has package or default accessibility when no accessibility modifier is specified.

Access Modifiers

1. private2. protected

3. default

4. public

public access modifier

   Fields, methods and constructors declared public (least restrictive) within a public class are visible to any class in the Java program, whether these classes are in the same package or in another package.

private access modifier

   The private (most restrictive) fields or methods cannot be used for classes and Interfaces. It also cannot be used for fields and methods within an interface. Fields, methods or constructors declared private are strictly controlled, which means they cannot be accesses by anywhere outside the enclosing class. A standard design strategy is to make all fields private and provide public getter methods for them.

protected access modifier

   The protected fields or methods cannot be used for classes and Interfaces. It also cannot be used for fields and methods within an interface. Fields, methods and constructors declared protected in a superclass can be accessed only by subclasses in other packages. Classes in the same package can also access protected fields, methods and constructors as well, even if they are not a subclass of the protected member’s class.

default access modifier

   Java provides a default specifier which is used when no access modifier is present. Any class, field, method or constructor that has no declared access modifier is accessible only by classes in the same package. The default modifier is not used for fields and methods within an interface.

      Below is a program to demonstrate the use of public, private, protected and default access modifiers while accessing fields and methods. The output of each of these java files depict the Java access specifiers.

      The first class is SubclassInSamePackage.java which is present in pckage1 package. This java file contains the Base class and a subclass within the enclosing class that belongs to the same class as shown below.

Output

Value of x is : 10

Value of x is : 20

Value of z is : 10

Value of z is : 30

Value of x is : 10

Value of x is : 20

      The second class is SubClassInDifferentPackage.java which is present in a different package then the first one. This java class extends First class (SubclassInSamePackage.java).

Output

Value of x is : 10

Value of x is : 30

Value of z is : 10

      The third class is ClassInDifferentPackage.java which is present in a different package then the first one.

Output

Value of x is : 10

Value of x is : 30

 

What is the difference between Abstract class and Interface
Or
When should you use an abstract class, when an interface, when both?
Or
What is similarities/difference between an Abstract class and Interface?
Or
What is the difference between interface and an abstract class?1. Abstract class is a class which contain one or more abstract methods, which has to be implemented by sub classes. An abstract class can contain no abstract methods also i.e. abstract class may contain concrete methods. A Java Interface can contain only method declarations and public static final constants and doesn’t contain their implementation. The classes which implement the Interface must provide the method definition for all the methods present.

2. Abstract class definition begins with the keyword “abstract” keyword followed by Class definition. An Interface definition begins with the keyword “interface”.

3. Abstract classes are useful in a situation when some general methods should be implemented and specialization behavior should be implemented by subclasses. Interfaces are useful in a situation when all its properties need to be implemented by subclasses

4. All variables in an Interface are by default - public static final while an abstract class can have instance variables.

5. An interface is also used in situations when a class needs to extend an other class apart from the abstract class. In such situations its not possible to have multiple inheritance of classes. An interface on the other hand can be used when it is required to implement one or more interfaces. Abstract class does not support Multiple Inheritance whereas an Interface supports multiple Inheritance.

6. An Interface can only have public members whereas an abstract class can contain private as well as protected members.

7. A class implementing an interface must implement all of the methods defined in the interface, while a class extending an abstract class need not implement any of the methods defined in the abstract class.

8. The problem with an interface is, if you want to add a new feature (method) in its contract, then you MUST implement those method in all of the classes which implement that interface. However, in the case of an abstract class, the method can be simply implemented in the abstract class and the same can be called by its subclass

9. Interfaces are slow as it requires extra indirection to to find corresponding method in in the actual class. Abstract classes are fast

10.Interfaces are often used to describe the peripheral abilities of a class, and not its central identity, E.g. an Automobile class might
implement the Recyclable interface, which could apply to many otherwise totally unrelated objects.

Note: There is no difference between a fully abstract class (all methods declared as abstract and all fields are public static final) and an interface.

Note: If the various objects are all of-a-kind, and share a common state and behavior, then tend towards a common base class. If all they
share is a set of method signatures, then tend towards an interface.

Similarities:
Neither Abstract classes nor Interface can be instantiated.

What does it mean that a method or class is abstract?

An abstract class cannot be instantiated. Only its subclasses can be instantiated. A class that has one or more abstract methods must be declared abstract. A subclass that does not provide an implementation for its inherited abstract methods must also be declared abstract. You indicate that a class is abstract with the abstract keyword like this:

    public abstract class AbstractClass

Abstract classes may contain abstract methods. A method declared abstract is not actually implemented in the class. It exists only to be overridden in subclasses. Abstract methods may only be included in abstract classes. However, an abstract class is not required to have any abstract methods, though most of them do. Each subclass of an abstract class must override the abstract methods of its superclasses
or itself be declared abstract. Only the method’s prototype is provided in the class definition. Also, a final method can not be abstract and vice versa. Methods specified in an interface are implicitly abstract.
. It has no body. For example,

public abstract float getInfo()

What must a class do to implement an interface?

The class must provide all of the methods in the interface and identify the interface in its implements clause.

What is an abstract method?

An abstract method is a method whose implementation is deferred to a subclass.

What is interface? How to support multiple inhertance in Java?

Or

What is a cloneable interface and how many methods does it contain?

An Interface are implicitly abstract and public. Interfaces with empty bodies are called marker interfaces having certain property or behavior. Examples:java.lang.Cloneable,java.io.Serializable,java.util.EventListener. An interface body can contain constant declarations, method prototype declarations, nested class declarations, and nested interface declarations.

Interfaces provide support for multiple inheritance in Java. A class that implements the interfaces is bound to implement all the methods defined in Interface.
Example of Interface:
public interface sampleInterface {
public void functionOne();

public long CONSTANT_ONE = 1000;
}

What is an abstract class?
Or
Can you make an instance of an abstract class?

Abstract classes can contain abstract and concrete methods. Abstract classes cannot be instantiated directly i.e. we cannot call the constructor of an abstract class directly nor we can create an instance of an abstract class by using “Class.forName().newInstance()” (Here we get java.lang.InstantiationException). However, if we create an instance of a class that extends an Abstract class, compiler will initialize both the classes. Here compiler will implicitly call the constructor of the Abstract class. Any class that contain an abstract method must be declared “abstract” and abstract methods can have definitions only in child classes. By overriding and customizing the abstract methods in more than one subclass makes “Polymorphism” and through Inheritance we define body to the abstract methods. Basically an abstract class serves as a template. Abstract class must be extended/subclassed for it to be implemented. A class may be declared abstract even if it has no abstract methods. This prevents it from being instantiated. Abstract class is a class that provides some general functionality but leaves specific implementation to its inheriting classes.

Example of Abstract class:

abstract class AbstractClassExample{

protected String name;
public String getname() {
return name;
}
public abstract void function();
}

Example: Vehicle is an abstract class and Bus Truck, car etc are specific implementations

No! You cannot make an instance of an abstract class. An abstract class has to be sub-classed.
If you have an abstract class and you want to use a method which has been implemented, you may
need to subclass that abstract class, instantiate your subclass and then call that method.

What is meant by “Abstract Interface”?

Firstly, an interface is abstract. That means you cannot have any implementation in an interface.
All the methods declared in an interface are abstract methods or signatures of the methods.

How to define an Interface?

In Java Interface defines the methods but does not implement them. Interface can include constants.
A class that implements the interfaces is bound to implement all the methods defined in Interface.
Example of Interface:

public interface SampleInterface {
public void functionOne();

public long CONSTANT_ONE = 1000;
}

Can Abstract Class have constructors? Can interfaces have constructors?

Abstract class’s can have a constructor, but you cannot access it through the object, since you cannot instantiate abstract class. To access the constructor create a sub class and extend the abstract class which is having the constructor.

Example
public abstract class AbstractExample {
public AbstractExample(){
System.out.println(”In AbstractExample()”);
}
}

public class Test extends AbstractExample{
public static void main(String args[]){
Test obj=new Test();
}
}

If interface & abstract class have same methods and those methods contain no implementation, which one would you prefer?

Obviously one should ideally go for an interface, as we can only extend one class. Implementing an interface for a class is very much effective rather than extending an abstract class because we can extend some other useful class for this subclass

 

What restrictions are placed on method overloading?Two methods may not have the same name and argument list but different return types.

What is the difference between String and StringBuffer?

String objects are immutable whereas StringBuffer objects are not. StringBuffer unlike Strings support growable and modifiable strings.

Can a private method of a superclass be declared within a subclass?

Sure. A private field or method or inner class belongs to its declared class and hides from its subclasses.
There is no way for private stuff to have a runtime overloading or overriding (polymorphism) features.

What is the default value of an object reference declared as an instance variable?

null unless we define it explicitly.

What is the difference between a constructor and a method?

Or

How can a subclass call a method or a constructor defined in a superclass?

A constructor is a member function of a class that is used to create objects of that class, invoked using the new operator. It has the same name as the class and has no return type. They are only called once, whereas member functions can be called many times. A method is an ordinary member function of a class. It has its own name, a return type (which may be void), and is invoked using the dot operator. Constructor will be automatically invoked when an object is created whereas method has to be called explicitly.

super.method(); is used to call a super class method from a sub class. To call a constructor of the super class, we use the super(); statement as the first line of the subclass’s constructor.

Can a top-level class be private or protected?

No. A top-level class cannot be private or protected. It can have either “public” or no modifier. If it does not have a modifier it is supposed to have a default access. If a top level class is declared as private/protected the compiler will complain that the “modifier private is not allowed here”.

Why Java does not support multiple inheritance?

Java does support multiple inheritance via interface implementation.

Where and how can you use a private constructor?

Private constructor can be used if you do not want any other class to instantiate the class. This concept is generally used in Singleton Design Pattern. The instantiation of such classes is done from a static public method.

How are this() and super() used with constructors?

this() is used to invoke a constructor of the same class. super() is used to invoke a superclass constructor.

What is Method Overriding? What restrictions are placed on method overriding?

When a class defines a method using the same name, return type, and argument list as that of a method in its superclass, the method in the subclass is said to override the method present in the Superclass. When the method is invoked for an object of the
class, it is the new definition of the method that is called, and not the method definition from superclass.
Restrictions placed on method overriding
• Overridden methods must have the same name, argument list, and return type.
• The overriding method may not limit the access of the method it overrides. Methods may be overridden to be more public, not more private.
• The overriding method may not throw any exceptions that may not be thrown by the overridden method.

What are the Object and Class classes used for? Which class should you use to obtain design information about an object?

Differentiate between a Class and an Object?

The Object class is the highest-level class in the Java class hierarchy. The Class class is used to represent the classes and interfaces that are loaded by a Java program. The Class class is used to obtain information about an object’s design. A Class is only a definition or prototype of real life object. Whereas an object is an instance or living representation of real life object. Every object belongs to a class and every class contains one or more related objects.

What is a singleton class?

Or

What is singleton pattern?

This design pattern is used by an application to ensure that at any time there is only one instance of a class created. You can achieve this by having the private constructor in the class and having a getter method which returns an object of the class and creates one for the first time if its null.

What is method overloading and method overriding?

Or

What is difference between overloading and overriding?

Method overloading: When 2 or more methods in a class have the same method names with different arguments, it is said to be method overloading. Overloading does not block inheritance from the superclass. Overloaded methods must have different method signatures

Method overriding : When a method in a class has the same method name with same arguments as that of the superclass,
it is said to be method overriding. Overriding blocks inheritance from the superclass. Overridden methods must have same signature.

Basically overloading and overriding are different aspects of polymorphism.

static/early binding polymorphism: overloading
dynamic/late binding polymorphism: overriding

If a class is declared without any access modifiers, where may the class be accessed?

A class that is declared without any access modifiers is said to have package or default access. This means that the class can only be accessed by other classes and interfaces that are defined within the same package.

Does a class inherit the constructors of its superclass?

A class does not inherit constructors from any of its super classes.

Which java.util classes and interfaces support event handling?

The EventObject class and the EventListener interface support event processing

Can an object’s finalize() method be invoked while it is reachable?

An object’s finalize() method cannot be invoked by the garbage collector while the object is still reachable. However, an object’s finalize() method may be invoked by other objects.

What is the purpose of the Runtime class?

The purpose of the Runtime class is to provide access to the Java runtime system.

It returns the runtime information like memory availability.

* Runtime.freeMemory() –> Returns JVM Free Memory
* Runtime.maxMemory() –> Returns the maximum amount of memory that the JVM will attempt to use. It also helps to run the garbage collector
* Runtime.gc()

What is the purpose of the System class?

The purpose of the System class is to provide access to system resources.

Can an unreachable object become reachable again?

An unreachable object may become reachable again. This can happen when the object’s finalize() method is invoked and the object performs an operation which causes it to become accessible to reachable object.

What is a bean? Where can it be used?

A Bean is a reusable and self-contained software component. Beans created using java take advantage of all the security and platform independent features of java. Bean can be plugged into any software application. Bean is a simple class which has set and get methods. It could be used within a JSP using JSP tags to use them.

What is the functionality of instanceOf() ?
instanceOf opertaor is used to check whether an object can be cast to a specific type without throwing ClassCastException.

What would happen if you say this = null?

It will come up with Error Message

“The left-hand side of an assignment must be a variable”.

I want to create two instances of a class ,But when trying for creating third instance it should not allow me to create . What i have to do for making this?

One way of doing this would be:

public class test1

{

static int cntr=0;

test1()

{ cntr++;

if(cntr>2)

throw new NullPointerException();//u can define a new exception // for this

}

public static void main(String args[])

{

test1 t1= new test1();

System.out.println(”hello 1″);

test1 t2= new test1();

System.out.println(”hello 2″);

test1 t3= new test1();

}

}

What is the difference between an object and an instance?

An Object May not have a class definition. eg int a[] where a is an array.

An Instance should have a class definition.

eg MyClass my=new MyClass();

my is an instance.

What is heap in Java?

It is a memory area which stores all the objects created by an executing program.

Why default constructor of base class will be called first in java?

A subclass inherits all the methods and fields (eligible one) from the base class, so base class is constructed in the process of creation of subclass object (subclass is also an object of superclass). Hence before initializing the default value of sub class the super class should be initialized using the default constructor.

What are the other ways to create an object other than creating as new object?

We can create object in different ways;

1.new operator

2.class.forName: Classname obj = Class.forName(”Fully Qualified class Name”).newInstance();

3.newInstance

4.object.clone

What is the difference between instance, object, reference and a class?

Class: A class is a user defined data type with set of data members & member functions

Object: An Object is an instance of a class

Reference: A reference is just like a pointer pointing to an object

Instance: This represents the values of data members of a class at a particular time