Lecture Review on Inheritance, Abstract Classes, and Exception Handling

A collection of vocabulary flashcards based on key concepts of inheritance, abstract classes, and exception handling discussed in the lecture.

Inheritance

A mechanism in object-oriented programming where a new class derives properties and behaviors from an existing class.

Abstract Class

A class that cannot be instantiated and may contain abstract methods that must be implemented by derived classes.

Polymorphism

The ability of different classes to be treated as instances of the same class through a common interface.

Exception Handling

A programming construct to handle errors and exceptional conditions in a controlled way.

Method Overriding

A feature in object-oriented programming where a derived class provides a specific implementation of a method already defined in its base class.

Casting

The process of converting a variable from one type to another.

Upcasting

The conversion of a subclass reference to a superclass reference.

Downcasting

The conversion of a superclass reference back to a subclass reference.

Interface

A reference type in Java that can contain only constants, method signatures, default methods, static methods, and nested types.

Compilation Error

An error that occurs when a program cannot be compiled successfully, typically due to syntax or type problems.

Overridden Method

A method in a subclass that has the same signature as a method in its parent class, replacing the parent's implementation.

Public Access Modifier

A visibility modifier that allows members to be accessible from any other class.

Protected Access Modifier

A visibility modifier that allows members to be accessible only within the same package and by subclasses.

Private Access Modifier

A visibility modifier that restricts access to members, making them accessible only within their own class.

Exception Class

A class that represents an error or exceptional condition that can occur during the execution of a program.

Catch Block

A block of code in exception handling that defines what to do when a specific exception is thrown.

Finally Block

A block of code that executes after a try-catch block, regardless of whether an exception was thrown or not.

Method Signature

The combination of a method's name and its parameter list, which identifies the method uniquely.

Reference Type

The type of variable that refers to the memory address of an object, rather than containing the object's data directly.

Null Pointer Exception

An exception that occurs when an application attempts to use an object reference that has the null value.