Java class

last modified January 27, 2024

In this article we show how to work with classes in Java.

Java regular class

The class keyword is used do define classes, which are templates for creating objects. The objects are called instances of a class. A new class is created with the new keyword.

Inside a class, we define member fields and member functions. The functions defined inside classes are called methods. Member fields and functions are accessed through the dot operator.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Objects;

class User {

    private String name;
    private String occupation;

    public User(String name, String occupation) {
        this.name = name;
        this.occupation = occupation;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    public String getOccupation() {
        return occupation;
    }

    public void setOccupation(String occupation) {
        this.occupation = occupation;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("User{");
        sb.append("name='").append(name).append('\'');
        sb.append(", occupation='").append(occupation).append('\'');
        sb.append('}');
        return sb.toString();
    }
}

public class RegularClassEx {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        var u = new User("John Doe", "gardener");
        System.out.println(u);

        System.out.println(u.getName());
        System.out.println(u.getOccupation());

    }
}

In the program, we define the User class. The class has two fields: name and occupation. In the class, we also define getter and setter methods for the fields and the toString method for a string representation of our class.

class User {
...
}

The class keyword is used to define a class. Inside the pair of curly brackets we define the body of the class.

private String name;
private String occupation;

Two String fields are defined.

public User(String name, String occupation) {
    this.name = name;
    this.occupation = occupation;
}

This is the constructor of the class; it is a special method that has the same name as the class. It is called when an instance of the class is created. In our case, we initialize our fields in the constructor.

public String getName() {
    return name;
}

public void setName(String name) {
    this.name = name;
}

public String getOccupation() {
    return occupation;
}

public void setOccupation(String occupation) {
    this.occupation = occupation;
}

For accessing private fields, we have defined two getter and setter methods.

@Override
public String toString() {
    final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("User{");
    sb.append("name='").append(name).append('\'');
    sb.append(", occupation='").append(occupation).append('\'');
    sb.append('}');
    return sb.toString();
}

To get a string representation of an object, we define the toString method. The method is called when we pass the object to System.out.println method.

var u = new User("John Doe", "gardener");

A new instance of the User class is created with the new keyword. At this moment, the constructor of the class is called. We pass the constructor two string parameters.

System.out.println(u);

The toString of the class is invoked.

System.out.println(u.getName());
System.out.println(u.getOccupation());

On the user object, we call the getName and getOccupation methods. The methods are invoked using the dot operator.

$ java com.zetcode.RegularClassEx
User{name='John Doe', occupation='gardener'}
John Doe
gardener

Java abstract class

An abstract class in an unfinished class. It must be implemented in its subclasses. Abstract class is created with the abstract keywords. We can create abstract methods and member fields.

The purpose of an abstract class is to provide a common definition for descendant classes.

Abstract classes cannot be instantiated. If a class contains at least one abstract method, it must be declared abstract too. Abstract methods cannot be implemented; they merely declare the methods' signatures.

package com.zetcode;

abstract class Drawing {

    protected int x = 0;
    protected int y = 0;

    public abstract double area();

    public String getCoordinates() {

        return String.format("x: %d, y: %d", this.x, this.y);
    }
}

class Circle extends Drawing {

    private int r;

    public Circle(int x, int y, int r) {

        this.x = x;
        this.y = y;
        this.r = r;
    }

    @Override
    public double area() {

        return this.r * this.r * Math.PI;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {

        return String.format("Circle at x: %d, y: %d, radius: %d",
                this.x, this.y, this.r);
    }
}

public class AbstractClassEx {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Circle c = new Circle(12, 45, 22);

        System.out.println(c);
        System.out.format("Area of circle: %f%n", c.area());
        System.out.println(c.getCoordinates());
    }
}

We have an abstract base Drawing class. The class defines two member fields, defines one method and declares one method. One of the methods is abstract, the other one is fully implemented. The Drawing class is abstract because we cannot draw it. We can draw a circle, a dot, or a square, but we cannot draw a "drawing". The Drawing class has some common functionality to the objects that we can draw.

abstract class Drawing {

We use the abstract keyword to define an abstract class.

public abstract double area();

An abstract method is also preceded with a abstract keyword. A Drawing class is an idea. It is unreal and we cannot implement the area method for it. This is the kind of situation where we use abstract methods. The method will be implemented in a more concrete entity like a circle.

class Circle extends Drawing {

A Circle is a subclass of the Drawing class. Therefore, it must implement the abstract area method.

@Override
public double area() {

    return this.r * this.r * Math.PI;
}

Here we are implementing the area method.

$ java com.zetcode.AbstractClass
Circle at x: 12, y: 45, radius: 22
Area of circle: 1520.530844
x: 12, y: 45

We create a Circle object and print its area and coordinates.

Java nested class

It is possible to define a class within another class. Such class is called a nested class in Java terminology. A class that is not a nested class is called a top-level class.

Java has four types of nested classes:

• Static nested classes
• Inner classes
• Local classes
• Anonymous classes

Using nested classes may increase the readability of the code and improve the organization of the code. Inner classes are often used as callbacks in GUI. For example in Java Swing toolkit.

Java static nested class

A static nested class is a nested class that can be created without the instance of the enclosing class. It has access to the static variables and methods of the enclosing class.

package com.zetcode;

public class SNCTest {

    private static int x = 5;

    static class Nested {

        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return "This is a static nested class; x:" + x;
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        SNCTest.Nested sn = new SNCTest.Nested();
        System.out.println(sn);
    }
}

The example presents a static nested class.

private static int x = 5;

This is a private static variable of the SNCTest class. It can be accessed by a static nested class.

static class Nested {

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "This is a static nested class; x:" + x;
    }
}

A static nested class is defined. It has one method which prints a message and refers to the static x variable.

SNCTest.Nested sn = new SNCTest.Nested();

The dot operator is used to refer to the nested class.

$ java com.zetcode.SNCTest
This is a static nested class; x:5

Java inner class

An instance of a normal or top-level class can exist on its own. By contrast, an instance of an inner class cannot be instantiated without being bound to a top-level class. Inner classes are also called member classes. They belong to the instance of the enclosing class. Inner classes have access to the members of the enclosing class.

package com.zetcode;

public class InnerClassTest {

    private int x = 5;

    class Inner {

        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return "This is Inner class; x:" + x;
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        InnerClassTest nc = new InnerClassTest();
        InnerClassTest.Inner inner = nc.new Inner();

        System.out.println(inner);
    }
}

A nested class is defined in the InnerClassTest class. It has access to the member x variable.

class Inner {

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "This is Inner class; x:" + x;
    }
}

An Inner class is defined in the body of the InnerClassTest class.

InnerClassTest nc = new InnerClassTest();

First, we need to create an instance of the top-level class. Inner classes cannot exist without an instance of the enclosing class.

InnerClassTest.Inner inner = nc.new Inner();

Once we have the top-level class instantiated, we can create the instance of the inner class.

$ java com.zetcode.InnerClassTest
This is Inner class; x:5

This is the output of the com.zetcode.InnerClassTest program.

Java local class

A local class is a special case of an inner class. Local classes are classes that are defined in a block. (A block is a group of zero or more statements between braces.) A local class has access to the members of its enclosing class.

In addition, a local class has access to local variables if they are declared final. The reason for this is technical. The lifetime of an instance of a local class can be much longer than the execution of the method in which the class is defined. To solve this, the local variables are copied into the local class. To ensure that they are later not changed, they have to be declared final.

Local classes cannot be public, private, protected, or static. They are not allowed for local variable declarations or local class declarations. Except for constants that are declared static and final, local classes cannot contain static fields, methods, or classes.

package com.zetcode;

public class LocalClassEx {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        final int x = 5;

        class Local {

            @Override
            public String toString() {
                return "This is Local class; x:" + x;
            }
        }

        Local loc = new Local();
        System.out.println(loc);
    }
}

A local class is defined in the body of the main method.

@Override
public String toString() {
    return "This is Local class; x:" + x;
}

A local class can access local variables if they are declared final.

Java anonymous class

Anonymous classes are local classes that do not have a name. They enable us to declare and instantiate a class at the same time. We can use anonymous classes if we want to use the class only once. An anonymous class is defined and instantiated in a single expression. Anonymous inner classes are also used where the event handling code is only used by one component and therefore does not need a named reference.

An anonymous class must implement an interface or inherit from a class. But the implements and extends keywords are not used. If the name following the new keyword is the name of a class, the anonymous class is a subclass of the named class. If the name following new specifies an interface, the anonymous class implements that interface and extends the Object.

Since an anonymous class has no name, it is not possible to define a constructor for an anonymous class. Inside the body of an anonymous class we cannot define any statements; only methods or members.

package com.zetcode;

public class AnonymousClass {

   interface Message {
        public void send();
    }

    public void createMessage() {

        Message msg = new Message() {

            @Override
            public void send() {
                System.out.println("This is a message");
            }
        };

        msg.send();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        AnonymousClass ac = new AnonymousClass();
        ac.createMessage();
    }
}

In this code example, we create an anonymous class.

interface Message {
    public void send();
}

An anonymous class must be either a subclass or must implement an interface. Our anonymous class will implement a Message interface. Otherwise, the type would not be recognized by the compiler.

public void createMessage() {

    Message msg = new Message() {

        @Override
        public void send() {
            System.out.println("This is a message");
        }
    };

    msg.send();
}

An anonymous class is a local class, hence it is defined in the body of a method. An anonymous class is defined in an expression; therefore, the enclosing right bracket is followed by a semicolon.

Source

Java class - tutorial

In this article we talked about Java classes.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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