How do I get direct superclass and interfaces of a class?

By Wayan Saryada in Reflection 0 Comment

Java reflection also dealing with inheritance concepts. You can get the direct interfaces and direct super class of a class by using method getInterfaces() and getSuperclass() of java.lang.Class object.

  • getInterfaces() will returns an array of Class objects that represent the direct super interfaces of the target Class object.
  • getSuperclass() will returns the Class object representing the direct super class of the target Class object or null if the target represents Object class, an interface, a primitive type, or void.
package org.kodejava.example.lang.reflect;

import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.Date;

public class GetSuperClassDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(String.class);
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(Date.class);
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(JButton.class);
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(Timer.class);
    }

    public static void get(Class clazz) {
        // Gets array of direct interface of clazz object
        Class[] interfaces = clazz.getInterfaces();

        System.out.format("Direct Interfaces of %s:%n",
                clazz.getName());
        for (Class clz : interfaces) {
            System.out.println(clz.getName());
        }

        // Gets direct superclass of clazz object
        Class superclz = clazz.getSuperclass();
        System.out.format("Direct Superclass of %s: is %s %n",
                clazz.getName(), superclz.getName());
        System.out.println("====================================");
    }
}

Here is the result of the code snippet:

Direct Interfaces of java.lang.String:
java.io.Serializable
java.lang.Comparable
java.lang.CharSequence
Direct Superclass of java.lang.String: is java.lang.Object 
====================================
Direct Interfaces of java.util.Date:
java.io.Serializable
java.lang.Cloneable
java.lang.Comparable
Direct Superclass of java.util.Date: is java.lang.Object 
====================================
Direct Interfaces of javax.swing.JButton:
javax.accessibility.Accessible
Direct Superclass of javax.swing.JButton: is javax.swing.AbstractButton 
====================================
Direct Interfaces of javax.swing.Timer:
java.io.Serializable
Direct Superclass of javax.swing.Timer: is java.lang.Object 
====================================

How do I check if a class represent an interface type?

By Wayan Saryada in Reflection 0 Comment

You can use the isInterface() method call of the java.lang.Class to identify if a class objects represent an interface type.

package org.kodejava.example.lang.reflect;

import java.io.Serializable;

public class IsInterfaceDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        IsInterfaceDemo.get(Serializable.class);
        IsInterfaceDemo.get(Long.class);
    }

    private static void get(Class clazz) {
        if (clazz.isInterface()) {
            System.out.println(clazz.getName() +
                    " is an interface type.");
        } else {
            System.out.println(clazz.getName() +
                    " is not an interface type.");
        }
    }
}

Here is the result of the program:

java.io.Serializable is an interface type.
java.lang.Long is not an interface type.

How do I create an interface in Java?

By Wayan Saryada in Basic, Core API 0 Comment

Inteface only contains methods declaration and all its methods are abstract methods. In its most common form, an interface is a group of related methods with empty bodies. To create an interface, use interface keyword in class definition. The file name of interface always the same with the interface name in class definition and the extension is .java.

The RemoteControl interface defines four move methods and a getPosition() methods. These methods has no bodieds. If a class implements an interface, the class should implements all the contracts / methods defined by the interface.

package org.kodejava.example.fundamental;

public interface RemoteController {
    void moveUp(int n);

    void moveRight(int n);

    void moveDown(int n);

    void moveLeft(int n);

    int[] getPosition();
}

The following snippet show you how to create a class that implements the RemoteController interface.

package org.kodejava.example.fundamental;

public class DummyRemoteControl implements RemoteController {
    private int x;
    private int y;

    public DummyRemoteControl(int x, int y) {
        this.x = x;
        this.y = y;
    }

    public void moveUp(int n) {
        x = x + n;
    }

    public void moveRight(int n) {
        y = y + n;
    }

    public void moveDown(int n) {
        x = x - n;
    }

    public void moveLeft(int n) {
        y = y - n;
    }

    public int[] getPosition() {
        return new int[] {x, y};
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        RemoteController control = new DummyRemoteControl(0, 0);
        control.moveDown(10);
        control.moveLeft(5);
        System.out.println("X = " + control.getPosition()[0]);
        System.out.println("Y = " + control.getPosition()[1]);
    }
}

How do I implement interfaces in Java?

By Wayan Saryada in Basic, Core API 2 Comments

To implement an interface, a java class must use implements keyword on its class definition. For example, class A implements interface B. The class definition of class A would look like this:

class A implements B {
}

A class can implements more than one interfaces. For example, class A can implements interface B and interface C:

class A implements B, C {
}

Classes that implements an interface must implements all methods declared in that interface.

package org.kodejava.example.fundamental;

public interface Language {

    String getBirthday();
    String getGreeting();

}

The following class is an English implementation of the Language interface.

package org.kodejava.example.fundamental;

public class English implements Language {
    public String getBirthday() {
        return "Happy Birthday";
    }

    public String getGreeting() {
        return "How are you?";
    }
}

The following class is an Indonesian implementation of the Language interface.

package org.kodejava.example.fundamental;

public class Indonesian implements Language {
    public String getBirthday() {
        return "Selamat Ulang Tahun";
    }

    public String getGreeting() {
        return "Apa kabar?";
    }
}

And here is a snippet that show the interface and classes in action.

package org.kodejava.example.fundamental;

public class LanguageDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Language language = new English();
        System.out.println(language.getBirthday());
        System.out.println(language.getGreeting());

        language = new Indonesian();
        System.out.println(language.getBirthday());
        System.out.println(language.getGreeting());
    }
}

How do I know if a class object is an interface or a class?

By Wayan Saryada in Core API, Lang Package 0 Comment 
package org.kodejava.example.lang;

public class CheckForInterface {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Checking whether Cloneable is an interface or class
        Class clazz = Cloneable.class;
        boolean isInterface = clazz.isInterface();
        System.out.println("Cloneable is an interface = " + isInterface);

        // Checking whether String is an interface or class
        clazz = String.class;
        isInterface = clazz.isInterface();
        System.out.println("String is an interface = " + isInterface);
    }
}

Cloneable is an interface = true
String is an interface    = false

How do I get interfaces implemented by a class?

By Wayan Saryada in Core API, Lang Package 0 Comment

The getClass().getInterfaces() method return an array of Class that represents the interfaces implemented by an object.

package org.kodejava.example.lang;

import java.util.Date;
import java.util.Calendar;

public class ClassInterfaces {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Get an instance of Date class
        Date date = Calendar.getInstance().getTime();

        // Get all interfaces implemented by the java.util.Date class and
        // print their names.
        Class[] interfaces = date.getClass().getInterfaces();
        for (Class iface : interfaces) {
            System.out.println("Interface Name = " + iface.getName());
        }

        // For the primitive type the interface will be an empty array.
        Class c = char.class;
        interfaces = c.getInterfaces();
        for (Class iface : interfaces) {
            System.out.println("Interface Name = " + iface.getName());
        }
    }
}

The java.util.Date class implements the following interfaces:

Interface Name = java.io.Serializable
Interface Name = java.lang.Cloneable
Interface Name = java.lang.Comparable