JAVA Means DURGASOFT
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
Inner Classes
Declaring a class inside a class is called as an Inner Class.
In Java applications,Inner classes are able to provide the following Advantages.
1.Modularity
2.Abstraction
3.Share-ability
4.Security
5.ReUseAbility
1.Modularity:
If we declare an Inner class inside a class then that inner class is treated as a
module of that entity class.
Ex:
class Account{
classStudentAccount{
classEmployeeAccount{
classLoanAccount{
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
2.Abstraction:
If we declare any variable or method inside an inner class then that variable and
method will have scope upto the respective inner class only,which are not available
to outside of that inner class.
3.Security:
In Java applications,private keyword is able to improve security.In Java
applications,it is not possible to declare a class as private but it is possible to declare
an inner class as private.Therefore Inner classes are able to improve security.
4.Share-ability:
In Java applications,static keyword is able to improve share-ability.
In Java applications,it is not possible to declare a class as static but it is possible to
declare an inner class as static.Therefore inner classes are able to improve share-
ability.
5.ReUseAbility:
In Java applications,inheritance is able to improve ReuseAbility.In Java applications,it
is possible to extend one inner class to another inner class,sothat,inner classes are
able to improve ReuseAbility.
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
Types of Inner classes:
There are four types of Inner classes in Java.
1.Member Inner class
2.Static Inner class
3.Method Local Inner class
4.Anonymous Inner class.
1.Member Inner class:
Declaring a non-static class inside a class is called as Member Inner class.
class Outer{
class Inner{
----
----
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
If we want to access members of member Inner class then we have to create an
Object for the respective member inner class.To create object for member inner
class,we have to use the following syntax.
Outer.Innerref_Var=new Outer.newInner();
In the case of member Inner classes,by using outer class reference variable we are
able to access only outer class members,it is not possible to access inner class
members.
In the case of member Inner classes by using Inner class reference variables we are
able to access only inner class members,it is not possible to access outer class
members.
In the case of member inner classes,all the outer class members are available to
inner classes automatically but all the inner class members are not available to outer
classes.
In general,inner classes are not allowing static declarations,but inner classes are able
to allow 'static' keyword along with 'final' keyword.
Example programme on Member Inner class:
class A{
int i=10;
void m3(){
System.out.println("m3-A");
//System.out.println(j);---->error
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
class B{
int j=20;
//static int k=30;--->error
static final int k=30;
void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-B");
System.out.println(i);
void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-B");
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
A.B ab=new A().new B();
ab.m1();
ab.m2();
//ab.m3();--->error
A a=new A();
a.m3();
//a.m1();--->error
//a.m2();--->error
In the case of member inner classes,we are able to define inheritance relation in the
following cases:
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
Diagram(OOPS--INNERCLASSES1.png)
Q)Is it possible to provide an interface inside a class?
Ans:Yes,it is possible to provide an interface inside a class but the respective
implementation class must be provided in the same outer class.
Example programmeon,to provide an interface inside a class :
class A{
interface I{
void m1();
void m2();
class B implements I{
public void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-B");
public void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-B");
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
A.I ai=new A().new B();
ai.m1();
ai.m2();
2.Static Inner class:
Declaring Static class inside a class is called as Static Inner class.
class Outer{
static class Inner{
If we want to access the members of static inner classes then we have to create
object for the static inner class.
Outer.Innerref_Var=new Outer.Inner();
In general inner classes will allow all the members of outer classes directly but static
inner classes are able to allow only static members of the outer class,it will not allow
non-static members of the outer class.
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
In general,inner classes will not allow static declarations but static inner classes are
able to allow the static declarations.
Example programme on Static Inner classes:
class A{
int i=10;
staticint j=10;
static class B{
void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-B");
//System.out.println(i);---->error
System.out.println(j);
void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-B");
static void m3(){
System.out.println("m3-B");
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
A.B ab=new A.B();
ab.m1();
ab.m2();
A.B.m3();
Q)Is it possible to provide a class inside an Interface?
Ans:Yes,it is possible to declare a class inside an interface.If we declare a class
inside an interface then that class is becoming as static inner class,where we can
access the members like static inner class members.
interface I{
class A{
void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-A");
void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-A");
}}}
class Test{
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
public static void main(String args[]){
I.A ia=new I.A();
ia.m1();
ia.m2();
3.Method local Inner Class:
Declaring a class Inside a method is called as Method Local Inner class.
If we declare a class inside a method then that class is having scope upto the
respective method.
In the case of method local Inner classes,we have to create object for the Inner class
and we have to access members of the inner class inside the respective method only.
Example Programme on Method local Inner Class:
class A{
void m1(){
class B{
void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-B");
void m3(){
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
System.out.println("m3-B");
B b=new B();
b.m2();
b.m3();
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
A a=new A();
a.m1();
}}
4.Anonymous Inner class:
In general,in Java applications,if we declare any abstract class with abstract methods
then we have to take a sub class for the abstract class,where we have to provide
implementation for all the abstract methods.
In the case of interfaces,we have to take an implementation class and we have to
provide implementation for all the abstract methods declared in the interface.
In the above two cases,subclasses or implementation classes may allow their own
methods and if we create object for sub class or implementation class then that
object may have the respective sub class identity or implementation class identity.
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
In Java applications,if we want to provide implementations for abstract classes and
interfaces with out allowing extra methods and if we want to create object with
abstract class identity and with interface identity then we have to use "Anonymous
Inner Class".
Syntax:
abstractclassName / Interface Name
---abstract methods---------
class Outer{
Name ref_Var=new Name(){
-----impl for abstract methods-------
};
Example programme on Anonymous Inner class for Interface:
interface I{
void m1();
void m2();
class A{
I i=new I(){
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
public void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-A");
public void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-A");
};
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
A a=new A();
a.i.m1();
a.i.m2();
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
Example programme on Anonymous Inner class for Abstract Class:
abstract class A{
void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-A");
abstract void m2();
abstract void m3();
class B{
A a=new A(){
void m2(){
System.out.println("m2-AIC");
void m3(){
System.out.println("m3-AIC");
};
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
B b=new B();
b.a.m1();
b.a.m2();
b.a.m3();
Utilization of Anonymous Inner class:
In Java applications,when we have any requirement to pass interface or abstract
class references as parameters to the methods then we have to pass anonymous
Inner class as parameter to the methods instead of taking implementation classes
and their references values.
Ex:
classMyFrame extends Frame{
MyFrame(){
this.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter(){
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent we){
System.exit(0);
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
});
}}
Example programme on Utilization of Anonymous Inner class:
interface I{
void m1();
class B{
void m2(I i){
System.out.println("m2-B");
i.m1();
class Test{
public static void main(String args[]){
B b=new B();
b.m2(new I()
public void m1(){
System.out.println("m1-AIC");
});
}}}}
NOTE:Passing Anonymous Inner class as parameter to the methods is suggestable
only in the case of less no.of abstract methods in side the interface.If the interface
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JAVA Means DURGASOFT
contains more no.of methods then it is suggestable to use implementation class
approach.
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