Inheritance

Application Programming: Java Programming

 Contents

• Defining Inheritance
• Relationships of Inheritance
• Rules of Inheritance
• super and this references
• super() and this() methods
• Constructor Chaining
• Casting

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 Objectives
• Define inheritance
• Identify relationships of inheritance
• Describe the rules of inheritance
• Describe the difference between this and
super references
• Describe the difference between this() and
super() methods
• Describe how to create constructors
• Describe the steps in constructor chaining
• Describe how to convert data types using casting

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 Defining Inheritance
• Inheritance is the ability to derive new classes from
existing ones. A derived class ("subclass") inherits the
instance variables and methods of the base class
("superclass"), and may add new instance variables and
methods.
• Inheritance defines a hierarchical relationship among
classes wherein one class shares the attributes and
methods defined in one or more classes.
• Inheritance is a relationship among classes in which one
class shares the structure and behavior of another. A
subclass inherits from a superclass.

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 Relationships of Inheritance
• “is-a” relationship
• a subclass can be used wherever a superclass can be used
• implemented in Java by extending a class
• “has-a” relationship
• a whole-class relationship between a class and its parts
• also known as composition or aggregation
• implemented in Java by instantiating an object inside a class

“is-a” relationship “has-a” relationship

Vehicle Car

Engine
Wheel
Car Bus
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 Rules of Inheritance

• A class can only inherit from one class (known as single inheritance).
• A subclass is guaranteed to do everything the superclass can do.
• A subclass inherits members from its superclass and can modify or
add to its behavior and properties.
• A subclass can define members of the same name in the superclass,
thus hiding the superclass members.
• Inheritance is transitive (i.e., class A inherits from class B, including
what B inherited from class C).
• All classes inherit from the Object class - the highest in the
inheritance hierarchy.
• private members, hidden members, and constructors are not
inherited by subclasses.

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 Inheritance Hierarchy

Object

System Math Vehicle Person

Car Boat Employee Doctor

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 Implementing Inheritance
• Inheritance is implemented in Java by the extends keyword
class Student extends Person {
String course;
double grade;
/*
* other members of Person class
* can be accessed here
*/
} */
public static void main(String[] args) {
Student junior = new Student();
// access current class members
junior.course = "Computer Science";
junior.grade = 1.5;
// access superclass members
junior.setName("Andrew");
junior.setAge(21);
junior.setSex('M');
}
class Person {
// set variables to private
private static int maleCount;
private static int femaleCount;
private String name;
private char sex;
private int age;
/*
* setters & getters, set to public
public int getAge() { return age;}
public void setAge(int a) { age = a;}
public String getName() { return name;}
public void setName(String n) { name = n;}
public char getSex() { return sex;}
public void setSex(char s) { sex = s;}
/*
* other methods here
*/
}
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 this and super
• this is a reference to the object of the current class
• It can be used to distinguish instance variables from local
variables
• It can be assigned to other references, or passed as a
parameter, or cast to other types
• It cannot be used in a static context
• super is a reference to the object of a superclass
• Used to access hidden members of the superclass
• It cannot be assigned to other references, nor passed as a
parameter, nor cast to other types
• It cannot be used in a static context

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 Using this and super

class Student extends Person { class Person {

private String course; // set variables to private
private static int maleCount;
private double grade;
private static int femaleCount;
static int studentCount; private String name;
private char sex;
// setters & getters private int age;
public String getCourse(){return course;}
/*
public void setCourse(String course) {
* setters & getters, set to public
this.course = course; */
} public int getAge() { return age;}
public double getGrade(){return grade;} public void setAge(int a) { age = a;}
public void setGrade(double grade) { public String getName() { return name;}
public void setName(String n) { name = n;}
this.grade = grade;
public char getSex() { return sex;}
} public void setSex(char s) { sex = s;}
// access superclass members /*
public void printInfo() { * other methods here
System.out.println(super.getName()); */
}
System.out.println(super.getSex());
System.out.println(super.getAge());
}
}

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 Constructor Chaining
• Constructor chaining is invoking all the constructors in the
inheritance hierarchy.
• Constructor chaining guarantees that all superclass
constructors are called.
• Constructors are invoked starting with the current class up
to the Object class, then they are executed in reverse
order.

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 this() and super()
• this(<optional parameters>)
• used to call constructors within the same class
• used to implement local chaining of constructors
• must be the first statement in a constructor and can only be
used in a constructor
• super(<optional parameters>)
• used to invoke constructors in the immediate superclass
• used to implement chaining of subclass-to-superclass
constructors
• must be the first statement in a constructor and can only be
used in a constructor

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 Implementing Constructor Chaining
class Person {
private String name;
private char sex;
private int age;
Person() { // default constructor
sex = 'M'; age = 0;
}
}
class Student extends Person {
String course;
double grade;
static int studentCount;
Student() { // default constructor
super(); // chain to superclass
studentCount++;
}
Student(String n) { // overloaded constructor (non-default)
this(); // local chain
super.setName(n);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Student junior = new Student("Andrew");
}
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 Casting
• Casting is converting from one data type to another
• Implicit casting is an implied casting operation
• Explicit casting is a required casting operation
• Primitive casting is converting a primitive data type to another
data type
• Widening conversion is casting a narrower data type to a broader
data type
• Narrowing conversion is casting a broader data type to a narrower
data type
• Reference casting is converting a reference data type to another
• Upcasting is conversion up the inheritance hierarchy
• Downcasting is conversion down the inheritance hierarchy
• Casting between primitive and reference type is not allowed
• In Java, casting is implemented using () operator

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 Reference Casting Flow
“Upcasting” “Downcasting”
Vehicle

Car Boat Plane

Imagine it as a container!

Vehicle

Car Boat Plane

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 Reference Casting Rule

Operation Conversion Type

string concatenation implicit upcasting
parameter passing implicit upcasting (if formal parameter
is a superclass)
(all others) explicit casting (downcasting or
upcasting )

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 Implementing Reference Casting
public class Vehicle {}
public class Car extends Vehicle {}
public class Boat extends Vehicle {}
public class Plane extends Vehicle {}

public static void main(String args[]) {

Vehicle v = new Vehicle();
Car c = new Car();
Boat b = new Boat();
Plane p = new Plane();
Vehicle vc = new Car();

v = c; // This will compile.

c = v; // This will not compile!!!
b = p; // will this compile?
b = (Boat) v; // will this compile?
c = (Car) vc; // will this compile?
}

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 Key Points
• Inheritance is deriving a new class (subclass) from an existing class
(superclass)
• Inheritance can exhibit an “is-a” or “has-a” relationship
• In Java, a class can only inherit from a single class
• All classes inherit from Object class – the highest in the inheritance
hierarchy
• In Java, inheritance is implemented by the extends keyword
• this is a reference to the object of the current class
• super is a reference to the object of a superclass
• this() is used to call constructors within the same class
• super() is used to invoke constructors in the immediate superclass
• Casting is converting from one data type to another

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Questions and Comments

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