Computer Programming-2

Lecture 9
Dr.Sara A.shehab
1
Inheritance and Polymorphism

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 Example on the Impact of a Superclass
without no-arg Constructor
Find out the errors in the program:
public class Apple extends Fruit {
}

class Fruit {
public Fruit(String name) {
System.out.println("Fruit's constructor is invoked");
}
}

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 Declaring a Subclass
A subclass extends properties and methods from the
superclass. You can also:
Add new properties
Add new methods
Override the methods of the superclass

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 Calling Superclass Methods
You could rewrite the printCircle() method in the Circle class as
follows:

public void printCircle() {

System.out.println("The circle is created " +
super.getDateCreated() + " and the radius is " + radius);
}

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
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 Overriding Methods in the Superclass
A subclass inherits methods from a superclass. Sometimes it is
necessary for the subclass to modify the implementation of a method
defined in the superclass. This is referred to as method overriding.

public class Circle extends GeometricObject {

// Other methods are omitted

/** Override the toString method defined in GeometricObject */

public String toString() {
return super.toString() + "\nradius is " + radius;
}
}

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
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 NOTE

An instance method can be overridden only

if it is accessible. Thus a private method
cannot be overridden, because it is not
accessible outside its own class. If a method
defined in a subclass is private in its
superclass, the two methods are completely
unrelated.

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
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 NOTE

Like an instance method, a static method

can be inherited. However, a static method
cannot be overridden. If a static method
defined in the superclass is redefined in a
subclass, the method defined in the
superclass is hidden.

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
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 Overriding vs. Overloading
public class Test { public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) { public static void main(String[] args) {
A a = new A(); A a = new A();
a.p(10); a.p(10);
a.p(10.0); a.p(10.0);
} }
} }

class B { class B {
public void p(double i) { public void p(double i) {
System.out.println(i * 2); System.out.println(i * 2);
} }
} }

class A extends B { class A extends B {

// This method overrides the method in B // This method overloads the method in B
public void p(double i) { public void p(int i) {
System.out.println(i); System.out.println(i);
} }
} }

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
9
 The Object Class and Its Methods
Every class in Java is descended from the
java.lang.Object class. If no inheritance is
specified when a class is defined, the
superclass of the class is Object.

public class Circle { public class Circle extends Object {

... Equivalent
...
} }

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
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 The toString() method in Object
The toString() method returns a string representation of the
object. The default implementation returns a string consisting
of a class name of which the object is an instance, the at sign
(@), and a number representing this object.

Loan loan = new Loan();

System.out.println(loan.toString());

The code displays something like Loan@15037e5 . This

message is not very helpful or informative. Usually you should
override the toString method so that it returns a digestible string
representation of the object.

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
11
 Polymorphism, Dynamic Binding and Generic Programming
public class PolymorphismDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
m(new GraduateStudent());
Method m takes a parameter
m(new Student()); of the Object type. You can
m(new Person());
m(new Object()); invoke it with any object.
}

public static void m(Object x) { An object of a subtype can be used wherever its
System.out.println(x.toString());
} supertype value is required. This feature is
}
known as polymorphism.
class GraduateStudent extends Student {
}

class Student extends Person { When the method m(Object x) is executed, the
public String toString() {
return "Student";
argument x’s toString method is invoked. x
} may be an instance of GraduateStudent,
}
Student, Person, or Object. Classes
class Person extends Object {
public String toString() {
GraduateStudent, Student, Person, and Object
return "Person"; have their own implementation of the toString
}
} method. Which implementation is used will be
determined dynamically by the Java Virtual
PolymorphismDemo Machine at runtime. This capability is known
as dynamic binding.
Run
Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
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 Dynamic Binding
Dynamic binding works as follows: Suppose an object o is an
instance of classes C1, C2, ..., Cn-1, and Cn, where C1 is a subclass
of C2, C2 is a subclass of C3, ..., and Cn-1 is a subclass of Cn. That
is, Cn is the most general class, and C1 is the most specific class.
In Java, Cn is the Object class. If o invokes a method p, the JVM
searches the implementation for the method p in C1, C2, ..., Cn-1
and Cn, in this order, until it is found. Once an implementation is
found, the search stops and the first-found implementation is
invoked.

Cn Cn-1 ..... C2 C1

Since o is an instance of C1, o is also an

Object instance of C2, C3, …, Cn-1, and Cn
Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
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 Method Matching vs. Binding
Matching a method signature and binding a method
implementation are two issues. The compiler finds a
matching method according to parameter type, number
of parameters, and order of the parameters at
compilation time. A method may be implemented in
several subclasses. The Java Virtual Machine
dynamically binds the implementation of the method at
runtime. See Review Questions 10.7 and 10.9.

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
14
 Generic Programming
public class PolymorphismDemo { Polymorphism allows methods to be used
public static void main(String[] args) {
m(new GraduateStudent()); generically for a wide range of object
m(new Student()); arguments. This is known as generic
m(new Person());
m(new Object()); programming. If a method’s parameter
} type is a superclass (e.g., Object), you
public static void m(Object x) { may pass an object to this method of any
}
System.out.println(x.toString()); of the parameter’s subclasses (e.g.,
} Student or String). When an object (e.g., a
class GraduateStudent extends Student {
Student object or a String object) is used
} in the method, the particular
class Student extends Person {
implementation of the method of the
public String toString() { object that is invoked (e.g., toString) is
return "Student"; determined dynamically.
}
}

class Person extends Object {

public String toString() {
return "Person";
}
}

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
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 Casting Objects
You have already used the casting operator to convert variables of
one primitive type to another. Casting can also be used to convert an
object of one class type to another within an inheritance hierarchy. In
the preceding section, the statement
m(new Student());

assigns the object new Student() to a parameter of the Object type.

This statement is equivalent to:

Object o = new Student(); // Implicit casting

m(o);

The statement Object o = new Student(), known as

implicit casting, is legal because an instance of
Student is automatically an instance of Object.
Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
16
 Why Casting Is Necessary?
Suppose you want to assign the object reference o to a variable of the
Student type using the following statement:

Student b = o;

A compilation error would occur. Why does the statement Object o =

new Student() work and the statement Student b = o doesn’t? This is
because a Student object is always an instance of Object, but an
Object is not necessarily an instance of Student. Even though you can
see that o is really a Student object, the compiler is not so clever to
know it. To tell the compiler that o is a Student object, use an explicit
casting. The syntax is similar to the one used for casting among
primitive data types. Enclose the target object type in parentheses and
place it before the object to be cast, as follows:

Student b = (Student)o; // Explicit casting

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
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 Casting from
Superclass to Subclass
Explicit casting must be used when casting an
object from a superclass to a subclass. This type
of casting may not always succeed.
Apple x = (Apple)fruit;

Orange x = (Orange)fruit;

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
18
 The instanceof Operator
Use the instanceof operator to test whether an object is an instance
of a class:

Object myObject = new Circle();

... // Some lines of code
/** Perform casting if myObject is an instance of
Circle */
if (myObject instanceof Circle) {
System.out.println("The circle diameter is " +
((Circle)myObject).getDiameter());
...
}

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
19
 TIP
To help understand casting, you may also
consider the analogy of fruit, apple, and
orange with the Fruit class as the superclass
for Apple and Orange. An apple is a fruit, so
you can always safely assign an instance of
Apple to a variable for Fruit. However, a
fruit is not necessarily an apple, so you have
to use explicit casting to assign an instance
of Fruit to a variable of Apple.

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
20
 Example: Demonstrating
Polymorphism and Casting
This example creates two geometric objects: a
circle, and a rectangle, invokes the
displayGeometricObject method to display the
objects. The displayGeometricObject displays
the area and diameter if the object is a circle, and
displays area if the object is a rectangle.

TestPolymorphismCasting Run
Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
21
 The equals Method
The equals() method compares the
contents of two objects. The default implementation of the
equals method in the Object class is as follows:
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
return (this == obj);
}
public boolean equals(Object o) {
For example, the if (o instanceof Circle) {
equals method is return radius == ((Circle)o).radius;
overridden in }
the Circle else
return false;
class. }

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
22
 NOTE
The == comparison operator is used for
comparing two primitive data type values or for
determining whether two objects have the same
references. The equals method is intended to
test whether two objects have the same
contents, provided that the method is modified
in the defining class of the objects. The ==
operator is stronger than the equals method, in
that the == operator checks whether the two
reference variables refer to the same object.
Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
23
 The final Modifier
The final class cannot be extended:
final class Math {
...
}

The final variable is a constant:

final static double PI = 3.14159;

The final method cannot be

overridden by its subclasses.

Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807
24
Liang, Introduction to Java Programming, Eighth Edition, (c) 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. 0132130807