Abstract what is the difference between class and interface (reproduced from: Xbox)

Abstract
Class and interface are two mechanisms supported for the definition of abstract classes in Java. It is precisely because of the existence of these two mechanisms that give Java powerful object-oriented capabilities.
Abstract
The class and interface have a great similarity in the support for abstract class definitions, and can even be replaced with each other. Therefore, many developers Define abstract classes
Abstract
The choice of class and interface is relatively casual. In fact, there is a big difference between the two. Their choice even reflects the understanding of the nature of the problem domain and the design intent.
Is the understanding correct and reasonable. This article will analyze the differences between them and try to provide developers with a basis for selection between them.

Understanding abstract classes

Abstract
Both class and interface are used for abstract classes in Java.
Class, which represents an abstract body
Class is defined in Java, so what is an abstract class and what benefits can it bring to us by using an abstract class?

In the concept of object-oriented, we know that all objects are depicted through classes, but this is not the case. Not all classes are used to depict objects. If a class does not contain enough information
Depicts a specific object. Such a class is an abstract class. Abstract classes are often used to represent the abstract concepts we have come up with in the analysis and design of problem domains. They are essentially the same for a series of seemingly different
The abstraction of specific concepts. For example, if we develop a graphic editing software, we will find that some specific concepts such as circles and triangles exist in the problematic domain. They are different, however, they all belong to the concept of shape, which does not exist in the field of problems.
Is an abstract concept. Abstract concepts cannot be instantiated because they do not have specific concepts in the problem field.

In the Object-Oriented field, abstract classes are mainly used to hide types. We can construct a fixed abstract description of a group of actions, but this group of actions can have any specific implementation method. This abstract description is an abstract class, and any possible implementations of this group are represented as all possible Derived classes. The module can operate on an abstract body. Because the module depends on a fixed abstract body, it may not be allowed to be modified. At the same time, the behavior function of this module can be extended by deriving from this abstract body. Readers familiar with OCP must know that abstract classes are the key to implementing an open-closed principle Principle of object-oriented design.


Abstract class and interface in terms of syntax definition

At the syntax level, the Java language provides different definitions for abstract class and interface. The following describes how to define an abstract class named demo.

You can use abstract class to define a demo abstract class as follows:

Abstract class demo {
Abstract void Method1 ();
Abstract void method2 ();
...

}

The following method is used to define the demo abstract class using the interface:

Interface demo {
Void Method1 ();
Void method2 ();
...
}

In the abstract

In the class method, the demo can have its own data members or non-Abstarct member methods. In the implementation of the interface method, demo can only have static data members that cannot be modified (that is, they must be static final, but generally do not define data members in the interface). All member methods are abstract. In a sense, interface is a special form of abstract class.

From the programming point of view, abstract class and interface can be used to implement the idea of "Design by contract. However, there are some differences in usage. Abstract class represents an inheritance relationship in Java. A class can only use an inheritance relationship once. However, a class can implement multiple interfaces. Maybe this is a compromise between Java designers and Java's support for multi-inheritance. Secondly, in the definition of abstract class, we can assign the default behavior of the method. However, in the interface definition, a method cannot have default behavior. to bypass this restriction, you must use a delegate. However, this increases complexity and sometimes causes great trouble.

Another serious problem still exists when the default behavior cannot be defined in the abstract class, which may cause maintenance trouble. Because if you want to modify the class interface (
Class or interface, it may take a lot of time
). However, if the interface is implemented through abstract class, you may only need to modify the definition in abstract
Class.

Similarly, if the default behavior cannot be defined in the abstract class, the same method will appear in every derived class of the abstract class, in violation of the "one rule, one place" principle, code duplication is also not conducive to future maintenance. Therefore, be careful when selecting abstract class and interface. Abstract class and interface are discussed from the perspective of syntax definition and programming.
The differences between class and interface are relatively low-level and non-essential. This section introduces
The Design Concepts Reflected by the class and interface are used to analyze the differences between the two. The author believes that only by analyzing at this level can we understand the essence of the two concepts.

As mentioned above, Abstarct class represents an inheritance relationship in Java. To make the inheritance relationship reasonable, there must be a "is a" relationship between the parent class and the derived class, that is to say, the concept of the parent class and the derived class should be essentially the same (for more information about the "is a" relationship in the references [3], for interested readers, refer ). For an interface, it is not required that the implementer of the interface and the interface definition are essentially consistent in concept, but only implement the contract defined by the interface. In order to make the discussion easier to understand, we will explain it through a simple example below.

Consider this example. Suppose there is an abstract concept about the door in our problem field. The door has two actions: open and close, in this case, abstract class or interface can be used to define a type that represents the abstract concept. The definitions are as follows:

Use abstract class to define door:

Abstract class door {
Abstract void open ();
Abstract void close ();
}


Use the interface method to define the door:


Interface door {
Void open ();
Void close ();
}


For other specific door types, extends can use the door defined in abstract class or implements to use the door defined in interface mode. It seems that there is no big difference between abstract class and interface.

If you want the door to have the alarm function. How do we design the class structure for this example? (in this example, we mainly want to demonstrate
The differences between class and interface are reflected in the design concept. Other irrelevant issues are simplified or ignored )? The following will list possible solutions and address these issues from the design concept layer.
Different solutions are analyzed.

Solution 1:

Add an alarm method to the door definition as follows:

Abstract class door {
Abstract void open ();
Abstract void close ();
Abstract void alarm ();
}


Or

Interface door {
Void open ();
Void close ();
Void alarm ();
}


The alarmdoor with alarm function is defined as follows:

Class alarmdoor extends door {
Void open (){... }
Void close (){... }
Void alarm (){... }
}


Or

Class alarmdoor implements door {
Void open (){... }
Void close (){... }
Void alarm (){... }
}

This
This method violates a core principle in object-oriented design.
Priciple), in the definition of the door, the inherent behavior method of the door concept and another concept "alarm
"Behavior methods are mixed together. One problem is that the modules that rely solely on the door concept will
"This concept changes (for example, modifying the parameters of the alarm method), and vice versa.

Solution 2:

Since
Open, close, and alarm are two different concepts. According to the ISP principle, they should be defined in abstract classes that represent these two concepts. The two concepts are defined as follows:
Abstract class method definition; both concepts are defined using the interface method; one concept uses Abstract
The class method is defined, and the other concept is defined using the interface method.

Obviously, because the Java language does not support multiple inheritance, both concepts are defined using abstract class. The latter two methods are feasible, but their selection reflects the understanding of the concept nature in the problem field, and whether the reflection of the design intent is correct and reasonable. Let's analyze and explain them one by one.

If both concepts are defined using the interface method, there are two problems: 1. We may not understand the problem field clearly. Is the concept of alarmdoor actually a door or an alarm? 2. If we have no problem understanding about the problem field, for example, we have found that alarmdoor is essentially consistent with door through analysis of the problem field, therefore, our design intent cannot be correctly revealed during implementation, because the definitions of these two concepts (both using the interface method definition) do not reflect the above meaning.

If our understanding of the problem field is: alarmdoor is essentially a door in concept, it also has the alarm function. How can we design and implement it to clearly reflect what we mean? As mentioned above, abstract class represents an inheritance relation in Java, and the inheritance relation is essentially a "is a" relation. So we should use the Abstarct class method to define the concept of door. In addition, alarmdoor has the alarm function, indicating that it can complete the behaviors defined in the alarm concept, so the alarm concept can be defined through interface. As follows:

Abstract class door {
Abstract void open ();
Abstract void close ();
}

Interface alarm {
Void alarm ();
}
Class alarmdoor extends door implements alarm {
Void open (){... }
Void close (){... }
Void alarm (){... }
}

This implementation method can clearly reflect our understanding of the problem field and correctly reveal our design intent. Abstract class represents the "is a" relation, and interface represents the "like a" relation. You can use it as a basis for your selection, of course, this is based on the understanding of the problem field. For example, if we think that alarmdoor is essentially an alarm and has the door function, then the above definition method will be reversed.


Conclusion

Abstract class and interface are two methods of defining abstract classes in Java. They have great similarity. However, their choices often reflect the understanding of the concept nature in the problem field, and whether the reflection of the design intent is correct and reasonable, because they represent different relationships between concepts (although they all implement the required functions ). This is actually a common use of language. I hope readers can understand it in detail.

Abstract what is the difference between class and interface (reproduced from: Xbox)