Prior to the release of Java 8, an interface can only have abstract methods. All the methods of interfaces are public and abstract by default.
With the release of Java 8 version, authors of Java have added a new type of method to an interface, known as a default method.
A default method in Java 8 is a method defined with a method body using default keyword inside an interface. It is sometimes called an optional method.
A default method is defined inside an interface with a default implementation. We can also override the implementation of default method inside a class if required. But we should not require to do so.
This is because if we do not override the default method, the default implementation will be used and the method definition will be concrete, not abstract.
Declaration of Default method in Java 8
The general syntax to declare a default method in java 8 interface is as follows:
public interface Test {
void m1(); // Normal abstract method.
default void m2() // Default method.
{
// Default implementation.
}
}In the above syntax, we have defined two interface methods, one is a normal abstract method and another is a default method.
Since all the members of an interface are public, therefore, both methods are considered public. The first method m1() is ended with a semicolon and doesn’t provide a body, whereas the second default method m2() provides a method body.
Any class that implements interface, may rely on the default implementation of m2() or override the method and provide its own implementation.
Note: The default access modifier is completely different from the default keyword to define method in the interface.
Why did Java 8 add Default method to Interface?
The purpose of introducing the default method in Java 8 was to improve code development and backward compatibility so that existing interfaces can support the lambda expressions without implementing methods in the implementation classes.
Suppose we have an interface that is implemented by dozens or hundreds of classes. If we add a new method to an existing interface, such addition of a new method would break classes implementing interface because they will not have defined that method and forced to update their code.
In practice, it would be almost impossible to update the code in hundreds of classes.
But, in Java 8, the default method makes it easy to evolve interfaces. By defining a default implementation of the method, the existing interface becomes backward compatible with the existing code without breaking the old code.
That’s why, a new concept “default method” is added to Java 8. We do not need to implement default methods in the implementation classes mandatorily.
This new feature of Java 8 makes it backward compatible without breaking the old code.
Rules to define Default method in Interface
There are the following rules to define default method inside an interface that needs to be familiar with:
1. A default method may only be defined inside an interface, not within a class or abstract class. If you try to declare default method within a class, the code will not compile.
2. It must be declared with the default keyword. If a method is declared as default, it must provide a method body. If you declare default method without method body, it will not compile.
3. It cannot be marked with static, final, or abstract, as it may be used or overridden by a class that implements the interface.
4. Like all methods in an interface, a default method is also considered as public and will not compile if declared as private or protected modifiers.
5. Default keyword cannot be marked with static method because all default methods are instance methods.
Default Method Example Programs
Let us take an example program where we will declare a default method with a body in interface.
Program code 1:
public interface AA
{
void m1(); // Normal abstract method
// Default method so we do not need to implement it in the implementation class.
default void m2()
{
System.out.println(“default method”);
}
}
public class BB implements AA
{
// Implementing abstract method inside implementation class.
public void m1()
{
System.out.println(“m1-AA”);
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
AA obj = new BB();
obj.m1(); // Calling default method of interface.
obj.m2(); // Calling abstract method of interface.
}
}Output:
m1-AA
default methodQ. Will the following code compile successfully? If not, why?
a)
public interface DefaultTest {
public default void m1();
public int m2() {
return 10;
}
}
Ans: In the above code, the first method m1() doesn’t compile because it is marked as default but doesn’t have a method body. The second method m2() will not also compile because it has a method body but is not marked with the default keyword.
b)
public interface A {
public default int m1() {
return 10;
}
public default double m2() {
return 10.5;
}
public default boolean m3() {
return true;
}
}
public interface B extends A {
public default int m1() {
return 20;
}
public double m2();
public boolean m3() {
return false;
}
}Ans: In the above code, the first interface A defines three default methods: m1(), m2(), and m3(). The second interface B extends interface A and overrides the default method m1() with a new method that returns a different value.
Interface B replaces the default method m2() with a new abstract method. Any class that implements interface B, must provide
an implementation of the method.
Finally, interface B overrides the m3() method but has not marked the method as default. So, the code will not compile because an interface may only contain default methods with a body.
Default Methods and Multiple Inheritance
Let’s take an example program where a class implements two interfaces that will have default methods with the same name and signature. Will the code compile successfully? Look at the source code.
Program code 2:
public interface A {
public default int m1() {
return 10;
}
}
public interface B {
public default int m1(){
return 20;
}
}
public class AB implements A, B {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
AB ab = new AB();
System.out.println(ab.m1());
}
}Ans: No, the code will not compile successfully. Java compiler will throw compile-time error because of duplicate default method error.
In this tutorial, we have explained all the important topics related to the default method in Java 8 interface with the help of example programs. Hope that you will have understood the basic concepts of default method and practiced all example programs. In the next, we will understand interface static method in Java 8 with the help of examples.
Thanks for reading!!!