OCP 17 Exam - chapter 7 notes - part 1 (interfaces and enums)

Posted Feb 8, 2025

By Rafał Garbowski

views 3 min read

Interfaces

abstract is implicit in interface - automatically added by compiler

  
     public abstract interface AbstractIsImplicitInInterface { // abstract is implicit (added by compiler)
	        public static final String MY_CONSTANT = "ABC"; // "public static final" is implicit
        public abstract void myMethod(); // public and abstract is implicit
     }

thus interface cannot be final as abstract class

  
final interface FinalInterface {  } // DOES NOT COMPILE: illegal combination of modifiers: interface and final

and like in abstract class, all abstract methods must be implemented by subtype
we can implement two interface that have methods with the same name based on rules of overriding from Chapter 6 (see [[2025-01-18-ocp-17-exam-chapter-6]])
interface allows only private or public static or public default method with body (public is implicit)

  
     interface InterfaceAllowedVisibilityModifiers {
       private static void privateStaticMethodWithBody() { }
       // protected static void staticMethodWithBody() { } DOES NOT COMPILE:  error: modifier protected not allowed here
       static void staticMethodWithBody() { } // implicitly "public"

       private void methodWithBody(){}
       // protected void methodWithBody(){} DOES NOT COMPILE: interface abstract methods cannot have body
       // void methodWithBody(){} // DOES NOT COMPILE: interface abstract methods cannot have body
       default void defaultMethodWithBody(){}
     }
     

tricky difference between interface and abstact class is that subtype of interface must always provide public modifier for implemented method (review Q.7)

  
     static abstract class SomeAbstractClass {
        abstract void methodToImplement();
     }
     
     interface SomeInterface {
        void methodToImplement();
     }
    // ...
      new SomeAbstractClass() {
         void methodToImplement() { } 
      };
      new SomeInterface() {
         // void methodToImplement() { } // DOES NOT COMPILE: attempting to assign weaker access privileges; was public
         public void methodToImplement() { }
      };

exam may trick us by using interface with extends instead implements keyword (review Q.6)

class inherits from two or more interfaces with default methods with the same signature
- subclass must implement/override default method, otherwise DOES NOT COMPILE, because compiler doesn’t know which default to use
- when we want to use/call default method implementation from Interface, we should use InterfaceName.super.methodName(); syntax.

  
      interface SameDefaultSignature1 {
        default int getInt() { return 1; }
     }
     
     interface SameDefaultSignature2 {
        default int getInt() { return 2; }
     }
     
     // DOES NOT COMPILE:   class MustOverrideDefault inherits unrelated defaults for getInt() from types SameDefaultSignature1 and SameDefaultSignature2
     // static class MustOverrideDefault implements SameDefaultSignature1, SameDefaultSignature2 { } 

     static class MustOverrideDefault implements SameDefaultSignature1, SameDefaultSignature2 {
        public int getInt() {
          return SameDefaultSignature1.super.getInt() + SameDefaultSignature2.super.getInt(); // prints 3
        }
     }

Enums

“fixed set of constants”
advantage over int or String constants is that providing invalid value of enum would fail compilation (type-safe checking)
“simple enum”

  
     enum Seasons {
      WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN
      , // allowed, but optional
      // , // another one DOES NOT COMPILE
      ; // optional
     }

Enum cannot be extended by another enum
Enum’s valueOf(String)

  
       System.out.println(Seasons.valueOf("SPRING")); // prints SPRING
       // System.out.println(Seasons.valueOf("Spring")); // IllegalArgumentException: No enum constant Chapter7.Seasons.Spring

must be used in switch without type prefix

  
       var season = Seasons.WINTER;
       switch (season) {
          // case Seasons.WINTER -> { System.out.println("winter!"); } // DOES NOT COMPILE:  an enum switch case label must be the unqualified name of an enumeration constant
          case WINTER -> { System.out.println("winter!"); } 
          default -> { System.out.println("other season"); }
       }