Multiple Inheritance in Java
Learn more about multiple inheritance and the use of default interface methods in multiple inheritance.
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Join For FreeEver since Java 8 introduced default interface methods, I felt there had to be a way to use it for multiple inheritance. I have never needed it, but I was bored for a bit today, so decided to try the following idea:
- Create a non-public class
XData
to hold the fields the interface needs to work with, and a public interfaceX
in the sameX.java
source file - The interface has one virtual method
getXData()
that returns theXData
instance - The remaining interface methods are default methods that call
getXData()
to read and write the fields as necessary to perform some useful operations. - Create another interface
Y
and classYData
in the same pattern - Create a class
XY
that implements both interfacesX
andY
- The class
XY
hasXData
andYData
fields, which are returned bygetXData()
andgetYData()
. These are the only two interface methodsXY
is required to implement. - I didn't bother in my example, but
XY
would have to decide how to implement the Object methodshashCode
,equals
, andtoString
. These methods cannot be implemented by interfaces (but they could be implemented inXData
andYData
classes if desired)
The end result is the XY
class is an instance of both X
and Y
interfaces, and inherits the encapsulated behaviors of both X
and Y
default methods - multiple inheritance by any reasonable measure.
It is better than C++ multiple inheritance, in that all constructor logic and declared fields are in the XY
class. The only problem you could get is if X
and Y
interfaces declare the same method that differs only by return type - but this is just a general problem of implementing multiple interfaces.
Here are some code examples using Dog
and Cow
interfaces.
Dog.java:
package mi;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.DAY_OF_MONTH;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.HOUR_OF_DAY;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.MINUTE_OF_DAY;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.MONTH_OF_YEAR;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.NANO_OF_SECOND;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.SECOND_OF_MINUTE;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.YEAR;
import java.time.Instant;
import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
import java.time.ZoneOffset;
/**
* The fields of data that Foo needs to operate on
*/
class DogData {
final String breed;
final String name;
final OffsetDateTime birthDate;
DogData(String breed, String name, OffsetDateTime birthDate) {
this.breed = breed;
this.name = name;
this.birthDate = birthDate;
}
}
public interface Dog {
/**
* The method the class has to implement to return a DogData instance, from one its own fields.
*
* @return dog data
*/
DogData getDogData();
/**
* Return the next time the dog should go to the vet for a checkup,
* which is annually, one week after the dog's birthday.
*
* @return date of next checkup.
*/
default OffsetDateTime nextCheckup() {
final OffsetDateTime now = OffsetDateTime.now();
final OffsetDateTime today = now.
minusHours(now.get(HOUR_OF_DAY)).
minusMinutes(now.get(MINUTE_OF_DAY)).
minusSeconds(now.get(SECOND_OF_MINUTE)).
minusSeconds(now.get(NANO_OF_SECOND));
final OffsetDateTime bday = getDogData().birthDate;
final int thisYear = now.get(YEAR);
final int bdayMonth = bday.get(MONTH_OF_YEAR);
final int bdayDay = bday.get(DAY_OF_MONTH);
OffsetDateTime nextCheckup = OffsetDateTime.
of(thisYear, bdayMonth, bdayDay, 12, 0, 0, 0, ZoneOffset.UTC).
plusDays(7);
if (nextCheckup.isBefore(today)) {
nextCheckup = nextCheckup.plusYears(1);
}
return nextCheckup;
}
default String getBreed() {
return getDogData().breed;
}
default String getName() {
return getDogData().name;
}
default OffsetDateTime getBirthDate() {
return getDogData().birthDate;
}
}
Cow.java:
package mi;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.DAY_OF_MONTH;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.HOUR_OF_DAY;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.MINUTE_OF_HOUR;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.MONTH_OF_YEAR;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.NANO_OF_SECOND;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.SECOND_OF_MINUTE;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.YEAR;
import java.time.Instant;
import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
import java.time.ZoneOffset;
class CowData {
String breed;
OffsetDateTime birthDate;
CowData(String breed, OffsetDateTime birthDate) {
this.breed = breed;
this.birthDate = birthDate;
}
}
public interface Cow {
/**
* The method the class has to implement to return a CowData instance, from one its own fields.
*
* @return cow data
*/
CowData getCowData();
/**
* Return the next time the cow should go to the vet for a shot,
* which is annually, one week before the cow's birthday.
*
* @return date of next checkup.
*/
default OffsetDateTime nextCheckup() {
final OffsetDateTime now = OffsetDateTime.now();
final OffsetDateTime today = now.
minusHours(now.get(HOUR_OF_DAY)).
minusMinutes(now.get(MINUTE_OF_HOUR)).
minusSeconds(now.get(SECOND_OF_MINUTE)).
minusNanos(now.get(NANO_OF_SECOND));
final OffsetDateTime bday = getCowData().birthDate;
final int thisYear = now.get(YEAR);
final int bdayMonth = bday.get(MONTH_OF_YEAR);
final int bdayDay = bday.get(DAY_OF_MONTH);
OffsetDateTime nextCheckup = OffsetDateTime.
of(thisYear, bdayMonth, bdayDay, 12, 0, 0, 0, ZoneOffset.UTC).
minusDays(7);
if (nextCheckup.isBefore(today)) {
nextCheckup = nextCheckup.plusYears(1);
}
return nextCheckup;
}
default String getBreed() {
return getCowData().breed;
}
default OffsetDateTime getBirthDate() {
return getCowData().birthDate;
}
}
DogCow.java:
package mi;
import static java.time.temporal.ChronoField.YEAR;
import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
import java.time.ZoneOffset;
public class DogCow implements Dog, Cow {
private final OffsetDateTime dogCowBdate = OffsetDateTime.of(
OffsetDateTime.now().get(YEAR) - (int)(Math.random() * 5),
(int)(Math.random() * 12) + 1,
(int)(Math.random() * 28) + 1,
(int)(Math.random() * 24),
(int)(Math.random() * 60),
0,
0,
ZoneOffset.UTC
);
private final DogData dogData = new DogData(
"Border Collie",
"Nate",
dogCowBdate
);
private final CowData cowData = new CowData(
"Angus",
dogCowBdate
);
@Override
public DogData getDogData() {
return dogData;
}
@Override
public CowData getCowData() {
return cowData;
}
@Override
public OffsetDateTime nextCheckup() {
// Check both Dog and Cow, choose whichever one comes first
final OffsetDateTime nextDogCheckup = Dog.super.nextCheckup();
final OffsetDateTime nextCowCheckup = Cow.super.nextCheckup();
return nextDogCheckup.isBefore(nextCowCheckup) ? nextDogCheckup : nextCowCheckup;
}
@Override
public String getBreed() {
return Dog.super.getBreed() + " " + Cow.super.getBreed();
}
@Override
public OffsetDateTime getBirthDate() {
return Dog.super.getBirthDate();
}
}
Main.java:
package mi;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
for (int i = 1; i < 10; i++) {
final DogCow dc = new DogCow();
System.out.println(
"DogCow " + i +
" is combined breed " +
dc.getBreed() +
" named " +
dc.getName() +
" born on " +
dc.getBirthDate() +
" with next checkup of " +
dc.nextCheckup()
);
}
}
}
Example Main.java output:
DogCow 1 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2022-11-22T21:40Z with next checkup of 2022-11-15T12:00Z
DogCow 2 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2018-09-22T01:53Z with next checkup of 2022-09-15T12:00Z
DogCow 3 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2022-01-26T18:08Z with next checkup of 2022-02-02T12:00Z
DogCow 4 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2022-02-23T00:32Z with next checkup of 2022-03-02T12:00Z
DogCow 5 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2019-03-27T04:24Z with next checkup of 2022-03-20T12:00Z
DogCow 6 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2022-02-04T19:11Z with next checkup of 2022-02-11T12:00Z
DogCow 7 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2020-02-20T17:13Z with next checkup of 2022-02-27T12:00Z
DogCow 8 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2018-09-02T18:02Z with next checkup of 2022-08-26T12:00Z
DogCow 9 is combined breed Border Collie Angus named Nate born on 2018-01-07T21:02Z with next checkup of 2022-01-14T12:00Z
See the Java code
Published at DZone with permission of Greg Hall. See the original article here.
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