OOP Principles

Constructors

All Java classes have a constructor, which is the method called upon object instantiation.

An object can have multiple overloaded constructors
A constructor can have any access modifier
Constructors can call other constructors through the this() method.
If no constructor is specified, a default constructor is generated which takes no arguments and does nothing.
The first call in any constructor is to the superclass constructor.
- This can be elided, and the default constructor is called
  - If there is no default constructor, a constructor must be called explicitly
- Can call explicitly with super()

Access Modifiers

Access modifiers apply to methods and member variables.

private: only the members of the class can see
public: anyone can see
protected: only class and subclasses can see
Default: package-private, only members of the same package can see

Inheritance

To avoid the diamond/multiple inheritance problem, Java only allows for single inheritance
This is done using the extends keyword in the class definition
Inherits all public and protected methods and members
Can, however, implement multiple interfaces

Example:

public class Car extends Vehicle implements Drivable, Crashable{
    // insert class body here
}

The Car class extends the Vehicle base class (can be abstract or concrete) and implements the behaviours defined by the interfaces Drivable and Crashable.

`static`

The static keyword defines a method, a field, or a block of code that belongs to the class instead of the object.

Static fields share a mutable state accross all instances of the class
Static methods are called from the class instead of from the object
Static blocks are executed once, the first time the class is loaded into memory

Polymorphism

Polymorphism: of many forms. A broad term describing a few things in java.

An object is defined as polymorphic if it passes more than one instanceof checks. An object can be referred to as the type of any one of it's superclasses. Say for example there is a Tiger class, which subclasses Cat, which subclasses Animal, giving an inheritance chain of Animal <- Cat <- Tiger, then the following is valid:

Animal a = new Tiger();
Cat c = new Tiger();
Tiger t = new Tiger();

When referencing an object through one of it's superclass types, you can only call objects that the reference type implements. For example, if there was two methods, Cat::meow and Tiger::roar, then:

c.meow() //valid
t.meow() //valid
a.meow() //not valid - animal has no method meow
t.roar() //valid
c.roar() // not valid - cat has no method roar

Even though all these variables are of the same runtime type, they are being called from a reference of another type.

When calling a method of an object, the actual method run is the one that is furthest down the inheritance chain. This is dynamic/runtime dispatch.

public class Animal{
    public speak(){return "...";}
}

public class Dog extends Animal{
    public speak(){return "woof";}
}

public class Cat extends Animal{
    public speak(){return "meow";}
}

Animal a = new Animal();
Animal d = new Dog();
Animal c = new Cat();

a.speak() // "..."
d.speak() // "woof"
c.speak() // "meow"

Even though the reference was of type Animal, the actual method called was the overridden subclass method.

Static Polymorphism (Method Overloading)

Note: different to overridding

Multiple methods with the same name can be written, as long as they have different parameter lists
The method that is called depends upon the number of and type of the arguments passed

Example:

public class Addition{
    private int add(int x, int y){return x+y;}
    private float add(float x, float y){return x+y;}
    public static void main(String[] args){
        add(1,2); //calls first method
        add(3.14,2.72); //calls second method
        add(15,1.5); //calls second method
    }
}

Abstraction

Abstraction is the process of removing irrelevant details from the user, while exposing the relevant details. For example, you don't need to know how a function works, it's inner workings are abstracted away, leaving only the function's interface and details of what it does.

In the example below, the workings of the sine function are abstracted away, but we still know what it does and how to use it.

float sin(float x){
    //dont care really
}
sin(90); // 1.0

Encapsulation

Encapsulation is wrapping the data and the code that acts on it into a single unit. The process is also known as data hiding, because the data is often hidden (declared private) behind the methods that retrieve them (getters/setters).

Reference Variables

There is no such thing as an object variable in Java. Only primitives (int,char,float...), and references. All objects are heap-allocated (new), and a reference to them stored. Methods are all pass by value: either the value of the primitive, or the value of the reference. Java is not pass by reference . Objects are never copied/cloned/duplicated implicitly.

If a reference type is required (ie Integer), but a primitive is given ((int) 1), then the primitive will be autoboxed into it's equivalent object type.

Abstract Classes and Interfaces

Abstract classes are classes that contain one or more abstract methods.
- A class must be declared abstract
- Abstract methods have no body, ie are unimplemented.
- The idea of them is to generalise behaviour, and leave it up to subclasses to implement
- Abstract classes cannot be instantiated directly, though can still have constructors for subclasses to call
Interfaces are a special kind of class that contain only abstract methods (and fields declared public static final)
- Used to define behaviour
- Technically can contain methods, but they're default implementations
  - This raises all sorts of issues so is best avoided
- Don't have to declare methods abstract, it's implicit

The diagram shows the inheritance hierarchy of the java collections framework, containing interfaces, abstract classes, and concrete classes.

Computer Systems Engineering Notes