Interfaces can inherit from one or more interfaces. The derived interface inherits the members from its base interfaces. A class that implements a derived interface must implement all members in the derived interface, including all members of the derived interface's base interfaces.
Also, it is possible for a java interface to inherit from another java interface, just like classes can inherit from other classes. You specify inheritance using the extends keyword. Inheritance will be further discussed below. But unlike classes, interfaces can actually inherit from multiple interfaces.
Every class in Java IS an Object. They behave like Objects, they can be added to collections of type Object, they can use any method defined in Object. So, YES, everything (except primitives) inherit from Object in Java.
Interfaces are not classes. Therefore, an interface cannot have a superclass, and your question is essentially invalid.
Do interfaces inherit from
Object
class in Java?
No, they don't. And there is no common "root" interface implicitly inherited by all interfaces either (as in the case with classes) for that matter.(*)
If no then how we are able to call the method of object class on interface instance
An interface implicitly declared one method for each public method in Object
. Thus the equals
method is implicitly declared as a member in an interface (unless it already inherits it from a superinterface).
This is explained in detail in the Java Language Specification, § 9.2 Interface Members.
9.2 Interface Members
[...]
- If an interface has no direct superinterfaces, then the interface implicitly declares a public abstract member method m with signature s, return type r, and throws clause t corresponding to each public instance method m with signature s, return type r, and throws clause t declared in
Object
, unless a method with the same signature, same return type, and a compatible throws clause is explicitly declared by the interface.[...]
This post has been rewritten as an article here.
(*) Note that the notion of being a subtype of is not equivalent to inherits from: Interfaces with no super interface are indeed subtypes of Object
(§ 4.10.2. Subtyping among Class and Interface Types ) even though they do not inherit from Object
.
Object
is a supertype of any interface [1]
However, an interface does not implements
, extends
, or, "inherit from" Object
.
JLS has a special clause to add Object
methods into interfaces [2]
[1] http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/typesValues.html#4.10.2
[2] http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/interfaces.html#9.2
There is actually a superclass field in every .class
file, including those that represent interfaces.
For an interface it always points to java.lang.Object
. But that isn't used for anything.
Another way to look at it is:
interface MyInterface {
// ...
}
public myMethod(MyInterface param) {
Object obj = (Object) param;
// ...
}
Here the cast (Object) param
is always valid, which implies that every interface type is a subtype of java.lang.Object
.
That's because employee e = ...
reads that there is a class that implements employee
, and is assigned to variable e
. Every class that implements an interface extends Object implicitly, hence when you do e.equals(null)
, the language knows that you have a class that is a subtype of employee
.
The JVM will do runtime checking for your code (i.e. throw NullPointerException
).
Is interface inherits Object class, how can we able to access the methods of object class through a interface type reference
No Interface does not inherits Object
class, but it provide accessibility to all methods of Object
class.
The members of an interface are:
Those members declared in the interface.
Those members inherited from direct superinterfaces.
If an interface has no direct superinterfaces, then the interface implicitly
declares a public abstract member method corresponding to each public instance method declared in Object
class.
It is a compile-time error if the interface explicitly declares such a method m in the case where m is declared to be final
in Object
.
Now it is clear that all superinterface have abstract
member method corresponding to each public
instance method declared in Object
.
source: http://ohmjavaclasses.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-intreface-inherits-object-clashow.html
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