Inheritance1 Study Guide
Author: Wayne Li, Zephyr Barkan

## Lecture Code #

Code from this lecture available at

## Overview #

Method Overloading In Java, methods in a class can have the same name, but different parameters. For example, a Math class can have an add(int a, int b) method and an add(float a, float b) method as well. The Java compiler is smart enough to choose the correct method depending on the parameters that you pass in. Methods with the same name but different parameters are said to be overloaded.

Making Code General Consider a largestNumber method that only takes an AList as a parameter. The drawback is that the logic for largestNumber is the same regardless of if we take an AList or SLList. We just operate on a different type of list. If we use our previous idea of method overriding, we result in a very long Java file with many similar methods. This code is hard to maintain; if we fix a bug in one method, we have to duplicate this fix manually to all the other methods.

The solution to the above problem is to define a new reference type that represents both AList and SLList. We will call it a List. Next, we specify an “is-a” relationship: An AList is a List. We do the same for SLList. Let’s formalize this into code.

Interfaces We will use the keyword interface instead of class to create our List. More explicitly, we write:

public interface List<Item> { ... }


The key idea is that interfaces specify what this List can do, not how to do it. Since all lists have a get method, we add the following method signature to the interface class:

public Item get(int i);


Notice we did not define this method. We simply stated that this method should exist as long as we are working with a List interface.

Now, we want to specify that an AList is a List. We will change our class declaration of AList to:

public AList<Item> implements List<Item> { ... }


We can do the same for SLList. Now, going back to our largestNumber method, instead of creating one method for each type of list, we can simply create one method that takes in a List. As long as our actual object implements the List interface, then this method will work properly!

Overriding For each method in AList that we also defined in List, we will add an @Override right above the method signature. As an example:

@Override
public Item get(int i) { ... }


This is not technically necessary, but is good style and thus we will require it. Also, it allows us to check against typos. If we mistype our method name, the compiler will prevent our compilation if we have the @Override tag.

Interface Inheritance Formally, we say that subclasses inherit from the superclass. Interfaces contain all the method signatures, and each subclass must implement every single signature; think of it as a contract. In addition, relationships can span multiple generations. For example, C can inherit from B, which can inherit from A.

Default Methods Interfaces can have default methods. We define this via:

default public void method() { ... }


We can actually implement these methods inside the interface. Note that there are no instance variables to use, but we can freely use the methods that are defined in the interface, without worrying about the implementation. Default methods should work for any type of object that implements the interface! The subclasses do not have to re-implement the default method anywhere; they can simply call it for free. However, we can still override default methods, and re-define the method in our subclass.

Static vs. Dynamic Type Every variable in Java has a static type. This is the type specified when the variable is declared, and is checked at compile time. Every variable also has a dynamic type; this type is specified when the variable is instantiated, and is checked at runtime. As an example:

Thing a;
a = new Fox();


Here, Thing is the static type, and Fox is the dynamic type. This is fine because all foxes are things.

## Exercises #

### Factual #

1. Describe the relationship between an interface and a class that implements it in your own words. What are three examples from real life of this relationship? Discuss this with a peer!

2. How many classes can a specific class implement at most? How many classes can implement a specific class at most?

3. These check-in exercises, listed here

### Conceptual #

1. Let’s imagine we create a Dog interface with implementing classes BigDog and SmallDog. What are some examples of default methods we could utilize from the Dog class and what are methods we would want to override?

2. Let’s imagine we create a Dog interface with implementing classes BigDog and SmallDog. We have a Dog constructor in our Dog class. Why do we still have to write a constructor in our BigDog and SmallDog classes?

### Procedural #

1. How would you implement the two constructors from Conceptual question 2 if you were attempting to maximize code reuse? Try it out.

### Metacognitive #

1. How does the idea of inheritance connect to what we already know? How can we use these ideas to optimize our IntList code?

2. What are the shortcomings you can identify with the rules of inheritance we have learned? Do you think they are intentional (a feature which is annoying to the writer but leads to code that is “better” in some way) or unintentional (a side effect of a behavior we want)? An example is that we have to ensure we use consistent, correct spelling of our method names or we will not get the behavior we want! This is intentional because it lets our users feel confident that they will know how to interact with our objects! Can you convince your peer to agree with you?

Last built: 2023-02-02 23:58 UTC