C# 2010 All-in-One For Dummies®

Chapter 8. Interfacing with the Interface

In This Chapter

• Beyond IS_A and HAS_A: The C# interface

• Creating your own interface or using one provided by .NET

• Unifying separate class hierarchies with interfaces

• Hiding part of your class's public interface behind an interface

• Managing software change — flexibility via interfaces

A class can contain a reference to another class; this statement describes the simple HAS_A relationship. One class can extend another class by way of the marvel of inheritance — that's the IS_A relationship. The C# interface implements another, equally important association: the CAN_BE_USED_AS relationship.

This chapter introduces C# interfaces and shows some of the numerous ways they increase the power and flexibility of object-oriented programming.

Introducing CAN_BE_USED_AS

If you want to jot a note, you can scribble it with a pen, type it into your smartphone, or pound it out on your laptop's keyboard. You can fairly say that all three objects — pen, smartphone, and computer — implement the TakeANote operation. Suppose that you use the magic of inheritance to implement this concept in C#:

abstract class ThingsThatRecord         // The base class
{
  abstract public void TakeANote(string note);
}
public class Pen : ThingsThatRecord     // A subclass
{
  override public void TakeANote(string note)
  {
    // ... scribble a note with a pen ...
  }

} public class PDA : ThingsThatRecord // Another subclass { override public void TakeANote(string note) { // ... stroke a note on the PDA ... } } ...