what is java interface tutorial

Java interface introduction

JAVA interface is an important concept in the java programming language.

This java interface tutorial will dive in depth into this concept and explain it with many examples.

In a previous tutorial, we learned what is an abstract class in java.

A java interface is like an abstract class that has only:

• final attributes (constant)
• no full implemented methods (only abstract methods)

In fact, an interface in java has only:

• final attributes
• abstract methods

In addition, an interface may inherit from many java interfaces unlike classes that have to inherit from a unique parent class.

In java, multiple inheritances in the context of classes is not allowed while it is allowed for interfaces.

If you don’t know what the concept of inheritance is, please feel free to check our java inheritance tutorial.

Also, a class can implement many interfaces with no problem.

JAVA interface definition (h2)

The syntax of a java interface is the following:

interface I {

//final attributes

final int a =100;

final static int b = 300;

//abstract methods

public abstract int  f(float p);

}

The only visibilities that can be applied to an interface are public or nothing (package visibility).

This is the same rule applied for java classes.

By default, the methods declared in an interface are public and abstract.

So, we can omit to mention the keywords public and abstract in the signatures of the interface ‘s methods.

But, we recommend mentioning these two keywords in the signature of the methods because it is a best practice.

JAVA interface implemented by a class (h2)

When defining a class, we can mention that it implements an interface using this syntax:

class A implements I {

// The class A must implement all the methods of the interface I

}

The class A must implement all the methods of the interface I.

Otherwise, we will get a compiler error.

In conclusion, when a class implements an interface, we are sure that it implements all the methods present in that interface.

So, the java interface is like a contract that the class will respect.

In the following, we will present a class that implements two interfaces. It may implement more than two interfaces. But in our case we will take the example of two interfaces.

This is the second interface:

interface J {

//abstract methods

public abstract float  g();

}

This is the class B that implements the interfaces I and J:

class B implements I, J {

// The class A must implement all the methods of the interfaces I and J

}

Here, the class B implements two interfaces (I and J) separated by comma.

It must implement all the methods of the interfaces I and J.

If a class implements an interface, it can access any constant defined by this interface.

If the constant defined in an interface is static, it can be accessed directly using the name of the interface.

So, the constant b defined in the interface I can be accessed like this: I.b

JAVA interface implemented by a class (h2)

If you are not familiar with polymorphism, you can check our java polymorphism tutorial.

In context of inheritance, we can declare a variable of a parent type.

Then, we can assign to it an object of a child type.

We can do something like that using an interface in java:

I a;

We can declare a variable whose type is an interface.

Also, we can assign any class that implements the interface I to the variable a.

So, we can assign an object of type A to the variable a:

a = new A();

In fact, we can even assign a java anonymous class to the variable a.

The inheritance between java interfaces (h2)

An interface can inherit from many interfaces unlike the classes.

So, multiple inheritance between interfaces is allowed in java.

An interface that inherits from two other interfaces I and J contains all the declarations of all the methods of I an J.

Java interface inheritance is a simple grouping of method declarations.

interface K extends I, J {

//contains the declaration of all the methods of both I an J

}

JAVA interfaces and naming conflicts (h2)

Let’s consider the following example.

This is the first interface:

interface P {

public abstract int  l(int a);

public abstract void  q();

}

This is the second interface:

interface M {

//abstract methods

public abstract int  l(float a);

public abstract void  q();

}

Let’s consider the T class that implements the two interfaces P and M:

class T implements P, M {

}

In this case, the class T must implement these methods:

• The method l of the interface P
• The method l of the interface Q
• The method q (because it has the same signature in the two interfaces)

The method l is implemented in the class T two times because the two signatures of this method in the two interfaces respect java method overloading rules.

JAVA interfaces and default method implementation in JAVA 8 (h2)

JAVA 8 allows to an interface to give a default implementation for a method.

The syntax is the following:

interface D {

default int f(){

//default implementation of the interface

}

}

Here, a class that implements the D interface may or may not give an implementation of the method f(). In the second case, it will use the default implementation offered by the interface D.

 

Java interface: conclusion (h2)

This java interface tutorial arrives at its end.

We have explained the interface concept with many examples.

If this java tutorial was helpful for you, please check our core java tutorial.

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