Which of the following is a difference between interfaces and abstract classes?

The Abstract class and Interface both are used to have abstraction. An abstract class contains an abstract keyword on the declaration whereas an Interface is a sketch that is used to implement a class. Explore more differences between abstract class and interface in java.

What is an Abstract Class?

A class that contains an abstract keyword on the declaration is known as an abstract class. It is necessary for an abstract class to have at least one abstract method. It is possible in an abstract class to contain multiple concrete methods.

What is an Interface?

An interface is a sketch that is useful to implement a class. The methods used in the interface are all abstract methods. The interface does not have any concrete method.

Difference between Abstract Class and Interface in Java

S.No. Abstract Class Interface
1. An abstract class can contain both abstract and non-abstract methods. Interface contains only abstract methods.
2. An abstract class can have all four; static, non-static and final, non-final variables. Only final and static variables are used.
3. To declare abstract class abstract keywords are used. The interface can be declared with the interface keyword.
4. It supports multiple inheritance. It does not support multiple inheritance.
5. The keyword ‘extend’ is used to extend an abstract class The keyword implement is used to implement the interface.
6. It has class members like private and protected, etc. It has class members public by default.

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What is an Interface?

Interfaces are generally an executable format for classes. By defining the general specifications of the methods, without implementing them, it requires the derived classes to fully implement those methods. Therefore, only the properties of the methods are defined once in the Interface, and where necessary, after inheriting, their methods are implemented. In all .NET versions, interfaces begin with the letter I and are separated from other components by this attribute. Its definition is very similar to classes; But with the same difference as above, their methods have no code. Interfaces do not have a constructor or a field, and no instance can be created from them.

What are the benefits of Interfaces?

Normally it is not possible to inherit from several classes at the same time, but Interfaces have the advantage of inheriting as many classes as they need. This is one of the most important benefits of Interface. Also, by using interfaces, codes become better able to be stored, flexible and reused.

What is Abstract Class?

The Abstract class is one of the most important OOP tools that cannot create instance. In other words, we can not define a variable of the Abstract class. An Abstract class is similar to the Interface but it's more expanded. These classes can have Abstract methods that are similar to the Interface declared only and must be rewritten in derived classes. Of course, you can have methods in these classes that are not Abstract and do not need to be implemented in derived classes.

It should be noted that only abstract class methods are required to implement when the word abstract is explicitly mentioned in the definition of that method.

In fact, these methods do not need to be implemented. That is, they can also be mentioned in the subclass as abstract. Provided that the subclass is also defined as abstract.

The abstract class can also have simple or non-abstract methods. As you know, non-abstract methods must have a body and do not need to be implemented.

So the abstract class can have both methods that need to be implemented and methods that do not need to be implemented.

According to the above definitions, the Abstract class is a state between ordinary classes and interfaces, and it is a class that is indefinite and incomplete and must be completed at the level of its children.

 What are the benefits of Abstract classes?

One of the advantages of the Abstract class is that it provides a base class for other derived classes; Explaining whether its methods can be coded. On the other hand, implementing all Abstract methods in the derived class is not mandatory (unlike Interface).

Defining access levels for methods and properties, like regular classes, is another advantage of these classes.

 Difference between Abstract and Interface classes

1. A regular class can only inherit from one Abstract class, but it can inherit from multiple interfaces.

2. An interface can only declare methods and properties; But an Abstract class in addition to them can have methods and properties with full code.

3- The elements in the Abstract class can have an access level like a normal class; But interfaces do not have this feature.

4. When you add a method to the Abstract class, it is automatically applied to all subclasses; But in the Interface, if you add a method, you must apply it to all subclasses.

5. Abstract classes, like regular classes, can have fields and other elements (such as constants); While an interface does not have this feature. The abstract class can also contain a constructor, but the interface cannot.

6- Abstract is one of the types of classes; But Interface is not a class .

7. The interface can only inherit from the interface, but the abstract class can inherit from the interface, the Abstract class, or other classes.

When to use Abstract Interfaces or Classes?

- According to the mentioned explanations, when we need multiple inheritance, we must use the Interface; Because this is not possible in Abstract classes.

- When we want to implement all the methods introduced in the base class completely in the derived class, we must use the Interface.

- When we face many changes in large projects, the use of the Abstract class is recommended; Because by changing it, changes are automatically applied to the derived classes.

- Due to the fact that it is not possible to define other elements in the Interfaces other than the declaration of methods and properties, if we are required to use these elements, it is necessary to use Abstract classes.

- If we do not want to implement all the methods in the derived classes and code some of them in the parent class, we must use the Abstract class.

- In general, an interface defines the framework and capabilities of a class and is a contract; But the Abstract class determines the type of class. This difference helps programmers to determine when to use the two.

Which of the following is a difference between interfaces and abstract classes quizlet?

An interface by definition has all public members without any implementation. While an abstract class may group different flavors of class members like private, protected, etc. but has at least one abstract method. Every abstract class must provide an instance method that defines its default behavior.

What is the difference between interface and abstract class Mcq?

An abstract class can contain static variables and methods. An interface contains only public static final variables.

What is the main difference between an interface and an abstract class Java?

Abstract classes methods can have access modifiers as public, private, protected, static but interface methods are implicitly public and abstract, we can't use any other access modifiers with interface methods. A subclass can extend only one abstract class but it can implement multiple interfaces.

Which of the following differences between class and interface is correct?

A class can inherit another class. An Interface cannot inherit a class. A class can be inherited by another class using the keyword 'extends'. An Interface can be inherited by a class using the keyword 'implements' and it can be inherited by another interface using the keyword 'extends'.