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CSC 418 Lecture 3 Notes

This document compares the mechanisms for separating interface and implementation in C++ and Java. C++ allows stronger separation by declaring interfaces in header files and implementations in separate files with the .cc suffix. Java requires both interface and implementation to be together in a single .java file, so does not truly separate them like C++.

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Boadi Adjei Gabriel
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160 views2 pages

CSC 418 Lecture 3 Notes

This document compares the mechanisms for separating interface and implementation in C++ and Java. C++ allows stronger separation by declaring interfaces in header files and implementations in separate files with the .cc suffix. Java requires both interface and implementation to be together in a single .java file, so does not truly separate them like C++.

Uploaded by

Boadi Adjei Gabriel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LECTURE THREE (3): DATA ABSTRACTION; SEPARATION OF INTERFACE AND

IMPLEMENTATION

A key principle that is part of both the procedural and object-oriented paradigms is data

abstraction: the separation of the interface of a data type/class from its implementation.

However, the mechanisms for doing this in C++ support a stronger separation than those in Java

do.

C++

 C++ allows the interface of a class to be declared in a separate file from its

implementation.

 It is common practice to put the declaration of a class in a separate header file. (i.e, as an

aside -but an important point for people used to Java to note. The declaration of a C++

class always ends with a semicolon. Forgetting this can lead to really strange compiler

errors!)

 Client files will use a #include directive to include the header file. When a header file is

included, the effect is the same as if the text of the header file were physically present in

the source file, in place of the #include directive.

 The implementation goes in an implementation file whose name is typically the same as

that of the header, but with a “.cc” suffix. The implementation file also “#include”’s the

related header file.

o Note that a header (.h) file can (and often does) include declarations for

multiple related classes, in which case the implementation (.cc) file will

typically include implementations for each class as well.

2020/2021 LECTURE NOTES ON COMPARATIVE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES (CSC 418) 1


 C++ does allow declaration and implementation to be done in one place (as in Java); but

this is not normally considered good practice. In particular, if the implementation code is

placed in the class declaration, then every time a source file includes the declaration, the

compiler will create a new copy of the implementation code.

Java

 Java does not really support the kind of separation of interface and implementation

that C++ does.

 Each publicly accessible Java class must be placed in its own source (.java) file. This

source file includes both the declaration and the full implementation of the class.

When a java source file is compiled, the resulting .class file contains a representation of

both the method declarations and their implementations.

 Client classes will import the class. This causes the compiler to extract the declaration

information from the compiled .class file.

 The java doc program does allow the interface portion of this file to be extracted to a

separate html documentation file; but this is only useful to a human reader, not client

code.

2020/2021 LECTURE NOTES ON COMPARATIVE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES (CSC 418) 2

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