Category: .NET

The only way to instantiate class Car is by creating child class that will inherit from it:

public class OffRoadCar : Car
{
    public OffRoadCar();
    public void Switch4WD(bool On)
    {
        // method code
    };
}

Because class OffRoadCar inherits from Car, following code will work:

OffRoadCar offroader = new OffRoadCar();
offroader.Switch4WD(true); // from OffRoadClass
offroader.Drive(); // from Car class

Interface

Interface, after MSDN, is a “definition that can never change after the interface definition has been released. This interface invariance is an important principle of component design, because it protects existing systems that have been written to use the interface.”

Interface cannot be instantiated, but serve as sort of pattern for derived classes, that share and implement specific features. Derived classes can also extend interface functionality, by defining extra members. Following code demonstrates sample interface:

public interface ICar
{
    string Make { get; set; }
    void Drive();
}

Because interface can serve as a “template” for series of classes, implementing it is a way of ensuring that all derived object will have set of common features. In example:

public class SportsCar : ICar
{
    public string Make { get; set; } // required from ICar
    public bool IsConvertible { get; set; } // adds extra feature
    public void Drive() // required by ICar
    { 

    };
}

public class Van : ICar
{
    public string Make { get; set; } // required from ICar
    public double LoadWeight { get; set; } // adds extra feature
    public void Drive() // required by ICar
    { 

    };
}

Because both SportsCar and Van classes inherit from ICar interface, they are forced to have common set of features (Make property and Drive() method). Thanks to that it is possible to write:

List<ICar> vehicles = new {
    new SportsCar() { Make = "Ferrari", IsConvertible = false },
    new Van() { Make = "Ford", LoadWeight = 3000 }
};

foreach(ICar car in vehicles)
{
    Console.WriteLine(car.Make);
}

Conclusion

In opposite to abstract class, interface cannot implement any default functionality in its methods. It also cannot implement default constructor. This is why we say we implement interface and inherit from abstract class.

Class may implement an unlimited number of interfaces, but may inherit from only one abstract class. A class that is derived from an abstract class may still implement interfaces.

Abstract classes and interfaces play extremely important role in programming concept called polymorphism, which in essence is “ability for classes to provide different implementations of methods that are called by the same name” (MSDN).

Resources

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/k535acbf(v=vs.71).aspx
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dyc5b94e(v=VS.71).aspx
• http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/abstractsvsinterfaces.aspx