22 Jan 2024




Intermediate

No, interfaces in object-oriented programming typically do not have implementations. Their main purpose is to define a contract that different classes can implement. This contract usually consists of:

  • Method signatures: These specify the names, parameters, and return types of the methods that implementing classes must provide.
  • Constants (optional): Some interfaces may also define constants that represent specific values.

However, interfaces do not specify how these methods should be implemented. That responsibility lies with the classes that implement the interface. Multiple classes can implement the same interface, each providing their own specific implementation for the methods defined in the interface.

This separation of specification (interface) and implementation (class) offers several benefits:

  • Flexibility: Interfaces allow you to design code that is independent of specific implementations. This makes your code more flexible and adaptable.
  • Code reuse: Classes that implement the same interface can be used interchangeably, even if their internal implementations are different. This promotes code reuse and reduces duplication.
  • Decoupling: Interfaces create a loose coupling between components in your code. This means that changes to one component are less likely to break other components.