Abstraction in Java

Abstraction in Java

In a simple word Abstraction means only key concept, for example we all are using TV remote and we know that how to on and off the TV by pressing a particular button but we don’t know how it does but we know it is used to on or off the TV.

In other words Abstraction is the process of hiding implementation details and showing only functionality to the users.

So Abstraction lets us focus on what the objects does instead of how it does it, refer above real world example.

How to achieve Abstraction in Java?

There are two ways to achieve abstraction Java.

1.     Abstract class (It is known as 0 to 100% abstract class).

2.     Interface (It is also known as 100% abstract class).

How to create an Abstract class in Java?

If a class declared as abstract keyword then it is known as an abstract class. It contains abstract and non-abstract method also. If we declare a class as abstract and it has some methods (may be abstract or concrete) then we need to extend this class and provide implementation according to requirement.

Important points to remember

1.     If you want to create an abstract class then we need to declare this class as abstract.

2.     It can have abstract methods as well as non-abstract methods too.

3.     We can’t instantiate an abstract class.

4.     It can have constructors and method also.

5.     It can have final methods also which will restrict the child class to do any modification with its original body.

Example of an abstract class

A class which is declared as abstract known as abstract class.

abstract class X{}

Abstract Method in Java

A method which is declared as abstract and does not have body i.e., implementation is known as abstract method.

See this example.

Abstract void showDetails();

Example of Abstract class with an abstract method

In this example we have created an abstract class Cricket with an abstract method play(),and we have provided its implementation in Sport class.

abstract class Cricket{

     abstract void play();

}

public class Sport extends Cricket{

     @Override

     void play() {

     System.out.println("Playing Cricket");

     }

     public static void main(String[] args) {

          Cricket obj=new Sport();

          obj.play();

     }

}

Output:

Playing Cricket

Another example of Abstract class in Java

In this example we have created an abstract class India with an abstract method state() and providing its implementation in sub classes i.e., Bihar,Up and Maharashtra classes.

abstract class India{

abstract void state();

}

class Bihar extends India{

     @Override

     void state() {

          System.out.println("Hello I am from Bihar");   

     }

}

class Up extends India{

     @Override

     void state() {

          System.out.println("Hello I am from UP"); 

     }

}

class Maharshtra extends India{

     @Override

     void state() {

          System.out.println("Hello I am from Maharashtra");  

     }

}

public class StateOfIndia{

     public static void main(String[] args) {

          India obj=new Bihar();

          obj.state();

          obj=new Up();

          obj.state();

          obj=new Maharshtra();

          obj.state();

     }

}

Output:

Hello I am from Bihar

Hello I am from UP

Hello I am from Maharashtra

Abstract class with constructor ,abstract method and non-abstract method

Here in this example we have created an abstract class India with constructor , an abstract method state() and a non-abstract method TestMethod(). We provided the implementation of state() method in sub class Bihar.

abstract class India{

     public India() {

          System.out.println("India class constructor");

     }

    

abstract void state();

void TestMethod() {

     System.out.println("Test Method Invoked");

}

}

class Bihar extends India{

     @Override

     void state() {

          System.out.println("Hello I am from Bihar");   

     }

}

public class StateOfIndia{

     public static void main(String[] args) {

          India obj=new Bihar();

          obj.state();

          obj.TestMethod(); 

     }

}

Output:

India class constructor

Hello I am from Bihar

Test Method Invoked

Note : An abstract class can have data members ,abstract methods, method body(Non-abstract method) , constructor and even main method also.

Abstract class with data members and with constructor

In this class we have created an abstract class MyClass  with id, name, parameterized constructor and main method also, here we are using anonymous inner class to create an object of this class to access the members.

public abstract class MyClass{

     private int id;

     private String name;

    

     public MyClass(int id, String name) {

          this.id = id;

          this.name = name;

     }

     public static void main(String[] args) {

          MyClass obj=new MyClass(1,"Matin") {

          };  

          System.out.println(obj.id+" "+obj.name);

     }

}

Output:

1 Matin

We can achieve the same thing by creating a child class and main method in abstract class to create the object of abstract class see example carefully , here we are not using constructor.

Since we can not access the non-static member without creating an object of class, as we can not create the object of abstract class, so we need to create a concrete child class and use the this class to access the members of abstract class. For example,

public abstract class MyClass{

     private int id=1;

     private String name="Matin";

    

     public static void main(String[] args) {

          MyClass obj=new ChildClass();

          System.out.println(obj.id+" "+obj.name);

     }

}

class ChildClass extends MyClass{

    

}

Output: 1 Matin

See also
Java Inheritance with example
Java Polymorphism with example