Types, Interfaces, Classes thomasalspaugh.org/pub/fnd/java-type.html

Interfaces are types

An interface is a type in Java.  It specifies which objects can be used as values of which variables or parameters. 

An interface lists the methods that objects implementing the interface have, giving each method's signature (name, parameter types, and return type). 

Classes are types plus implementations

A (non-abstract) class is a type plus an implementation:  it lists the method signatures, but also gives implementations for each method, one or more constructors for objects of the class, fields, and static methods and fields.  A class name can be used as the type for a variable or parameter, but implies not only what methods are present but what implementations are used for them. 

A class may be defined to implement one or more interfaces, so that objects of the class are also of the types defined by all those interfaces. 

A class may also be defined to extend exactly one other class (its superclass).  It inherits the members (fields and methods) and implementations of its superclass.  Each class may have at most one superclass, but may implement any number of interfaces. 

Abstract classes are sort of in between

Intermediate between an interface (a type) and a class (a type plus an implementation) is an abstract class, which lists all the method signatures but does not necessarily provide an implementation for every method.  The methods for which no implementation is given are abstract methods. 

Comparisons and contrasts

Syntactically, an interface begins with the keyword interface, a class with class, and an abstract class with abstract class.  Abstract method signatures of an abstract class have the keyword abstract before the return type. 

Each of these three (interface, abstract class, class) has certain restrictions. 

An interface must be public and not static (except in certain restricted situations) and all its methods must be public.  If no access modifier is given, public is assumed.  A class or abstract class need not be public, nor need its methods be public. 

A class (abstract or not) may implement one or more interfaces.  An interface may extend one or more interfaces.  A class (abstract or not) may extend at most one other class. 

An interface may contain no fields, except for fields that are static, public, and final. 

Characteristic	interface	abstract class	class
Can extend one or more interfaces	yes	no	no
Can extend a single class	no	yes	yes
Can implement one or more interfaces
Can have method signatures without bodies	yes	yes	no
Can have method implementations with bodies	no	yes	yes
Can be protected or private
Can have protected or private members
Can have constructors
Can have static methods
Can have static fields (other than public final ones)
Can have public static final fields	yes	yes	yes

Thomas A. Alspaugh alspaugh  at · ics · uci · edu