Interface (computing): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:05, 10 January 2023

Revision as of 19:07, 26 February 2023

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| title = IEEE 100 - The Authoritative Dictionary Of IEEE Standards Terms

| publisher = IEEE Press

| ___location = NYC, NY, USAUSa

| isbn = 9780738126012

| pages = 574–575}}</ref>

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In some [[object-oriented]] languages, especially those without full [[multiple inheritance]], the term ''interface'' is used to define an [[Abstract data type|abstract type]] that contains no data but defines behaviours as [[Method (computer science)|method]] signatures. A [[Class (computer science)|class]] having code and data for all the methods corresponding to that interface and declaring so is said to ''implement'' that interface.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/concepts/interface.html|title=What Is an Interface|work=The Java Tutorials|publisher=Oracle|access-date=2012-05-01|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412093619/http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/concepts/interface.html|archive-date=2012-04-12}}</ref> Furthermore, even in single-inheritance-languages, one can implement multiple interfaces, and hence can ''be'' of different types at the same time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/IandI/createinterface.html|title=Interfaces|work=The Java Tutorials|publisher=Oracle|access-date=2012-05-01|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526080117/http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/IandI/createinterface.html|archive-date=2012-05-26}}</ref>

An interface isjnjbjbjis thus a [[data type|type]] definition; anywhere an object can be exchanged (for example, in a [[functionfunctiob,hbjhbjhbhn (computercompdfdsfuter science)|function]] or [[method (computer science)|method]] call) the ''type'' of the object to be exchanged can be defined in terms of one of its implemented ''interface''s or base-classes rather than specifying the specific [[Class (computer science)|class]]. This approach means that any class that implements that interface can be used.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} For example, a [[Skeleton (computer programming)|dummy implementation]] may be used to allow development to progress before the final implementation is available. In another case, a [[Test-driven development#Fakes, mocks and integration tests|fake or mock]] implementation may be substituted during testing. Such [[Method stub|stub]] implementations are replaced by real code later in the development process.

Usually a method defined in an interface contains no code and thus cannot itself be called; it must be implemented by non-abstract code to be run when it is invoked.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} An interface called "<code>[[Stack (data structure)|Stack]]</code>" might define two methods: <code>push()</code> and <code>pop()</code>. It can be implemented in different ways, for example, <code>FastStack</code> and <code>GenericStack</code>—the first being fast, working with a data structure of fixed size, and the second using a data structure that can be resized, but at the cost of somewhat lower speed.

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{{Main article|User interface}}

A '''user interface''' is a point of interaction between a computercompfuturelifegafhr
uter and humans; it includes any number of [[Modality (human–computer interaction)|modalities]] of [[human-computer interaction|interaction]] (such as graphics, sound, position, movement, etc.) where data is transferred between the user and the computer system.

== See also ==