Java™ How To Program (Early Objects), Tenth Edition

Relating Disparate Types

An interface is often used when disparate classes—i.e., classes that are not related by a class hierarchy—need to share common methods and constants. This allows objects of unrelated classes to be processed polymorphically—objects of classes that implement the same interface can respond to the same method calls. You can create an interface that describes the desired functionality, then implement this interface in any classes that require that functionality. For example, in the accounts payable application developed in this section, we implement interface Payable in any class that must be able to calculate a payment amount (e.g., Employee, Invoice).