Chapter 6_Classification, Generalization, and Specialization

Classification

• categorizing objects into a class.

• is the process of grouping objects together based on common characteristics.

• In Java, this is achieved through the use of classes and interfaces.

Classes, interfaces

_____ and _____ can be used to classify objects based on their attributes and behaviors.

Interface

• is a collection of abstract methods and constants that can be implemented by a class

• _____ defines a set of methods that a class implementing that _____ must provide.

• The methods in an _____ do not have any implementation, but only the method signatures are defined.

inheritance

Hierarchical relationship of classes is created using _____.

child class

can inherit properties and methods from a parent class, and can also add its own properties and methods.

hierarchy of classes

each child class can inherit from its parent class, and can also be inherited by other child classes.

Generalization

• is the process of creating a more general class from a more specific class.

• This allows you to create a hierarchy of classes that share common properties and behavior.

• the act of capturing similarities between classes and defining the similarities in a new generalized class; the classes then become subclasses of the generalized class.

Specialization

• is the opposite of generalization

• it involves creating a more specific class from a more general class.

• This allows you to add additional properties and behavior to a more specific class without affecting the more general class.

• is the act of capturing differences among objects in a class and creating new distinct subclasses with the differences.

• In this way, we are specializing information about objects of the superclass into subclasses.

• the act of capturing differences among objects in a class and creating new distinct subclasses with the differences.

subclass, superclass

• A _____ is a specialized class of a superclass,

• and a ______ is a generalized class of a subclass.