What is the Difference Between Abstract Class and Inheritance?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚Inheritance and abstract classes are two distinct concepts in object-oriented programming that serve different purposes.
Inheritance:
- Inheritance allows a class to inherit properties and behaviors from another class.
- It is used to create specialized classes based on more general classes.
- Inheritance can be used for code reuse and to define a parent-child relationship between classes.
Abstract Class:
- An abstract class is a special type of class that cannot be instantiated on its own.
- It serves as a foundation for derived classes, allowing them to share a common base class.
- Abstract classes can contain abstract methods, which must be implemented by the inheriting classes, as well as non-abstract methods, constructors, and member variables.
- Abstract classes can be used to define a common interface or behavior that can be shared by multiple classes, but with specific implementations in each derived class.
In summary, inheritance is a mechanism for creating specialized classes based on more general classes, while abstract classes provide a common base class for a group of related classes. Inheritance allows a class to inherit properties and behaviors from another class, whereas abstract classes are used to define a common interface or behavior that can be shared by multiple classes, but with specific implementations in each derived class.
Comparative Table: Abstract Class vs Inheritance
Here is a table comparing the differences between abstract classes and inheritance in Java:
| Feature | Abstract Classes | Inheritance |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword | abstract |
extends |
| Methods | Can have abstract methods (no body) | Methods can have bodies |
| Instantiation | Cannot be instantiated | Can be instantiated |
| Accessibility | Can have private, protected, and public members | Can only have public methods and protected fields |
| Implementation | Inheriting classes must provide implementation for abstract methods | Inheriting classes can override or extend the implementation of methods from the base class |
| Use Case | When you need to implement mutable state or provide a common base class with shared behavior | When you need to reuse the implementation of a base class in a derived class |
Abstract classes can contain both abstract and non-abstract methods, and they cannot be instantiated directly. Inheriting classes must provide implementations for the abstract methods in the abstract class. Inheritance, on the other hand, allows a class to extend another class and reuse its implementation, overriding or extending the implementation of methods from the base class as needed.
- Abstract Class vs Concrete Class
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- Polymorphism vs Inheritance
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- Inheritance vs Interface in Java
- Class vs Interface
- Virtual vs Abstract
- Inheritance vs Composition
- Superclass vs Subclass
- Objects vs Classes
- Encapsulation vs Abstraction
- Overriding vs Overloading
- Abstract vs Introduction
- Overloading vs Overriding in Java
- Classes vs Structures
- Class vs Instance Variables
- Multiple vs Multilevel Inheritance
- Abstract vs Summary
- Implements vs Extends