Forward declaration doubt

[nitude gupta]

hi I have come across this question from notes given by a friend

class A{}
class B extends A implements E{} //line 1
class C extends A{}
class D extends B{}
interface E{}
public class Question07 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
A a = new D(); //line 2
C c = new C(); //line 3
E e = (E)a; //line 4
B b = (B)e; //line 5
}
}

I want to know why line 4 does not gets compiler error
"Compilation error on line 4 because class A does not implement interface E"

and why no fwd declaration error!!!

also why casting at line 4 and lin5

[Sagar Rohankar]

nitude gupta wrote:
I want to know why line 4 does not gets compiler error
"Compilation error on line 4 because class A does not implement interface E"

and why no fwd declaration error!!!

also why casting at line 4 and lin5

Here, at line 4, a is an object of class D, and class D extends B and implements interface E, So E is at top of the hierarchy.

SO compiler see this relation and allowed to typecast it (upcasting).

Same logic for line no 5.

[Vijitha Kumara]

Sagar Rohankar wrote:

nitude gupta wrote:
I want to know why line 4 does not gets compiler error
"Compilation error on line 4 because class A does not implement interface E"

and why no fwd declaration error!!!

also why casting at line 4 and lin5

Here, at line 4, a is an object of class D, and class D extends B and implements interface E, So E is at top of the hierarchy.

SO compiler see this relation and allowed to typecast it (upcasting).

Same logic for line no 5.

How about this one?

interface F{}
class G{}

public class Question07 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
F f = (F) new G();
}
}   

[Sagar Rohankar]

Vijitha Kumara wrote:
How about this one?

interface F{}
class G{}

public class Question07 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
F f = (F) new G();
}
}   

ouch.. Good catch, I didn't know that..
that's mean, we can cast to any interface type, no matter object implements that interface or do not implement..

The same program for both of class type doesn't work

 class F{}
class G{}

public class Question08 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
F f = (F) new G();
}
}   

So, Why this things with interface only ??

I looked at JLS,

[Sagar Rohankar]

Vijitha Kumara wrote:
How about this one?

interface F{}
class G{}

public class Question07 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
F f = (F) new G();
}
}   

ouch.. Good catch, I didn't know that..
that's mean, we can cast to any interface type, no matter object implements that interface or do not implement..

The same program for both of class type doesn't work

 class F{}
class G{}

public class Question08 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
F f = (F) new G();
}
}   

So, Why this things with interface only ??

I looked at JLS,
But didn't get anything useful..

[edted: Sorry, cant put that JLS part here]

[James Tharakan]

I think this will clear most of the doubts.

[Vijitha Kumara]

I think here at JLS tells the conversion.

- From any class type C to any non-parameterized interface type K, provided that C is not final and does not implement K.

[Ankit Garg]

James Tharakan wrote:I think this will clear most of the doubts.

Hey that's my first post ever on ranch

[Sagar Rohankar]

Vijitha Kumara wrote:I think here at JLS tells the conversion.

- From any class type C to any non-parameterized interface type K, provided that C is not final and does not implement K.

Thanks a ton !!

Thanks James & Ankit, too.

[nitude gupta]

Thanks a lot everybody that was really helpfull and good discussion, I have read kathy but still having such doubts I think because I didn't read JSL

Is there an alternative to JSL,I feel lost n .Could you guys suggest some material which covers JSL on whole,I mean an alternative to it

[Sagar Rohankar]

nitude gupta wrote:Thanks a lot everybody that was really helpfull and good discussion, I have read kathy but still having such doubts I think because I didn't read JSL

JLS is like Java Docs, you don't have to remember each and everything. And having such doubts mean you understand the concepts and start playing with it..

nitude gupta wrote:
Is there an alternative to JSL, I feel lost n .Could you guys suggest some material which covers JSL on whole,I mean an alternative to it

Don't worry, JLS is too big to get .. So better make your basic fundamentals clear..
And when some things didn't works as expected ( as in the current example), Go through JLS. Look for JSL to find your doubts.. This way you can solve your most of the queries.

[anand-k jha]

A class can cast to an interface type as marker interface.