OOPS Interview Questions

1. What are the principle concepts of OOPS?

There are four principle concepts upon which object oriented design and programming rest. They
are:

 Abstraction
 Polymorphism
 Inheritance
 Encapsulation

(i.e. easily remembered as A-PIE).

2. What is Abstraction?

Abstraction refers to the act of representing essential features without including the background
details or explanations.

3. What is Encapsulation?

Encapsulation is a technique used for hiding the properties and behaviors of an object and
allowing outside access only as appropriate. It prevents other objects from directly altering or
accessing the properties or methods of the encapsulated object.

4. What is the difference between abstraction and encapsulation?

 Abstraction focuses on the outside view of an object (i.e. the interface) Encapsulation
(information hiding) prevents clients from seeing it’s inside view, where the behavior of
the abstraction is implemented.
 Abstraction solves the problem in the design side while Encapsulation is the
Implementation.
 Encapsulation is the deliverables of Abstraction. Encapsulation barely talks about
grouping up your abstraction to suit the developer needs.

5. What is Inheritance?
 Inheritance is the process by which objects of one class acquire the properties of objects
of another class.
 A class that is inherited is called a superclass.

 The class that does the inheriting is called a subclass.

 Inheritance is done by using the keyword extends.
 The two most common reasons to use inheritance are:
o To promote code reuse

o To use polymorphism
6 .What is Polymorphism?

Polymorphism is briefly described as "one interface, many implementations." Polymorphism is a

characteristic of being able to assign a different meaning or usage to something in different
contexts - specifically, to allow an entity such as a variable, a function, or an object to have more
than one form.

7. How does Java implement polymorphism?

(Inheritance, Overloading and Overriding are used to achieve Polymorphism in java).

Polymorphism manifests itself in Java in the form of multiple methods having the same name.

 In some cases, multiple methods have the same name, but different formal argument lists
(overloaded methods).
 In other cases, multiple methods have the same name, same return type, and same formal
argument list (overridden methods).

8. Explain the different forms of Polymorphism.

There are two types of polymorphism one is Compile time polymorphism and the other is run
time polymorphism. Compile time polymorphism is method overloading. Runtime time
polymorphism is done using inheritance and interface.
Note: From a practical programming viewpoint, polymorphism manifests itself in three distinct
forms in Java:

 Method overloading
 Method overriding through inheritance
 Method overriding through the Java interface

9. What is runtime polymorphism or dynamic method dispatch?

In Java, runtime polymorphism or dynamic method dispatch is a process in which a call to an

overridden method is resolved at runtime rather than at compile-time. In this process, an
overridden method is called through the reference variable of a superclass. The determination of
the method to be called is based on the object being referred to by the reference variable.

10. What is Dynamic Binding?

Binding refers to the linking of a procedure call to the code to be executed in response to the call.
Dynamic binding (also known as late binding) means that the code associated with a given
procedure call is not known until the time of the call at run-time. It is associated with
polymorphism and inheritance.

[Link] is method overloading?

Method Overloading means to have two or more methods with same name in the same class with
different arguments. The benefit of method overloading is that it allows you to implement
methods that support the same semantic operation but differ by argument number or type.

Note:

 Overloaded methods MUST change the argument list

 Overloaded methods CAN change the return type
 Overloaded methods CAN change the access modifier
 Overloaded methods CAN declare new or broader checked exceptions
 A method can be overloaded in the same class or in a subclass

12. What is method overriding?

Method overriding occurs when sub class declares a method that has the same type arguments as
a method declared by one of its superclass. The key benefit of overriding is the ability to define
behavior that’s specific to a particular subclass type.
Note:

 The overriding method cannot have a more restrictive access modifier than the method
being overridden (Ex: You can’t override a method marked public and make it
protected).
 You cannot override a method marked final
 You cannot override a method marked static

[Link] are the differences between method overloading and method overriding?
Overloaded Method Overridden Method

Arguments Must change Must not change

Return type Can change Can’t change except for covariant

returns

Exceptions Can change Can reduce or eliminate. Must not

throw new or broader checked
exceptions

Access Can change Must not make more restrictive (can be

less restrictive)

Invocation Reference type determines which Object type determines which method
overloaded version is selected. is selected. Happens at runtime.
Happens at compile time.

14. Can overloaded methods be override too?

Yes, derived classes still can override the overloaded methods. Polymorphism can still happen.
Compiler will not binding the method calls since it is overloaded, because it might be overridden
now or in the future.
15. Is it possible to override the main method?

NO, because main is a static method. A static method can't be overridden in Java.

16. How to invoke a superclass version of an Overridden method?

To invoke a superclass method that has been overridden in a subclass, you must either call the
method directly through a superclass instance, or use the super prefix in the subclass itself. From
the point of the view of the subclass, the super prefix provides an explicit reference to the
superclass' implementation of the method.

// From subclass
[Link]();

17. What is super?

super is a keyword which is used to access the method or member variables from the superclass.
If a method hides one of the member variables in its superclass, the method can refer to the
hidden variable through the use of the super keyword. In the same way, if a method overrides
one of the methods in its superclass, the method can invoke the overridden method through the
use of the super keyword.
Note:

 You can only go back one level.

 In the constructor, if you use super(), it must be the very first code, and you cannot access
any [Link] variables or methods to compute its parameters.

18. How do you prevent a method from being overridden?

To prevent a specific method from being overridden in a subclass, use the final modifier on the
method declaration, which means "this is the final implementation of this method", the end of its
inheritance hierarchy.

public final void exampleMethod() {

// Method statements
}

19. What is an Interface?

An interface is a description of a set of methods that conforming implementing classes must

have.
Note:

 You can’t mark an interface as final.

 Interface variables must be static.
 An Interface cannot extend anything but another interfaces.

20. Can we instantiate an interface?

You can’t instantiate an interface directly, but you can instantiate a class that implements an
interface.

21. Can we create an object for an interface?

Yes, it is always necessary to create an object implementation for an interface. Interfaces cannot
be instantiated in their own right, so you must write a class that implements the interface and
fulfill all the methods defined in it.

22. Do interfaces have member variables?

Interfaces may have member variables, but these are implicitly public, static, and final- in other
words, interfaces can declare only constants, not instance variables that are available to all
implementations and may be used as key references for method arguments for example.

23. What modifiers are allowed for methods in an Interface?

Only public and abstract modifiers are allowed for methods in interfaces.

24. What is a marker interface?

Marker interfaces are those which do not declare any required methods, but signify their
compatibility with certain operations. The [Link] interface and Cloneable are typical
marker interfaces. These do not contain any methods, but classes must implement this interface
in order to be serialized and de-serialized.

25. What is an abstract class?

Abstract classes are classes that contain one or more abstract methods. An abstract method is a
method that is declared, but contains no implementation.
Note:

 If even a single method is abstract, the whole class must be declared abstract.
 Abstract classes may not be instantiated, and require subclasses to provide
implementations for the abstract methods.
 You can’t mark a class as both abstract and final.

26. Can we instantiate an abstract class?

An abstract class can never be instantiated. Its sole purpose is to be extended (subclassed).

[Link] should I use abstract classes and when should I use interfaces?

Use Interfaces when…

 You see that something in your design will change frequently.

 If various implementations only share method signatures then it is better to use Interfaces.
  you need some classes to use some methods which you don't want to be included in the
class, then you go for the interface, which makes it easy to just implement and make use
of the methods defined in the interface.

Use Abstract Class when…

 If various implementations are of the same kind and use common behavior or status then
abstract class is better to use.
 When you want to provide a generalized form of abstraction and leave the
implementation task with the inheriting subclass.
 Abstract classes are an excellent way to create planned inheritance hierarchies. They're
also a good choice for nonleaf classes in class hierarchies.

29. When you declare a method as abstract, can other nonabstract methods access it?

Yes, other nonabstract methods can access a method that you declare as abstract.

30. Can there be an abstract class with no abstract methods in it?

Yes, there can be an abstract class without abstract methods.

27. What are the differences between Interface and Abstract class?
Abstract Class Interfaces

An abstract class can provide complete, default

An interface cannot provide any code at all,just
code and/or just the details that have to be
the signature.
overridden.

In case of abstract class, a class may extend only

A Class may implement several interfaces.
one abstract class.

An abstract class can have non-abstract

All methods of an Interface are abstract.
methods.

An abstract class can have instance variables. An Interface cannot have instance variables.

An abstract class can have any visibility: public,

An Interface visibility must be public (or) none.
private, protected.

If we add a new method to an abstract class then If we add a new method to an Interface then we
we have the option of providing default have to track down all the implementations of
implementation and therefore all the existing the interface and define implementation for the
code might work properly. new method.

An abstract class can contain constructors . An Interface cannot contain constructors .

Interfaces are slow as it requires extra

Abstract classes are fast. indirection to find corresponding method in the
actual class.
 Java Basic Interview Questions
31. What is Constructor?
 A constructor is a special method whose task is to initialize the object of its class.
 It is special because its name is the same as the class name.

 They do not have return types, not even void and therefore they cannot return values.
 They cannot be inherited, though a derived class can call the base class constructor.
 Constructor is invoked whenever an object of its associated class is created.

32. How does the Java default constructor be provided?

If a class defined by the code does not have any constructor, compiler will automatically provide
one no-parameter-constructor (default-constructor) for the class in the byte code. The access
modifier (public/private/etc.) of the default constructor is the same as the class itself.

33. Can constructor be inherited?

No, constructor cannot be inherited, though a derived class can call the base class constructor.
+
34. What are the differences between Contructors and Methods?
Constructors Methods

Purpose Create an instance of a class Group Java statements

Modifiers Cannot be abstract, final, native, Can be abstract, final, native, static, or
static, or synchronized synchronized

Return Type No return type, not even void void or a valid return type

Name Same name as the class (first letter is Any name except the class. Method
capitalized by convention) -- usually a names begin with a lowercase letter by
noun convention -- usually the name of an
action

this Refers to another constructor in the Refers to an instance of the owning

same class. If used, it must be the first class. Cannot be used by static
line of the constructor methods.

super Calls the constructor of the parent Calls an overridden method in the
class. If used, must be the first line of parent class
the constructor

Inheritance Constructors are not inherited Methods are inherited

[Link] are this() and super() used with constructors?
 Constructors use this to refer to another constructor in the same class with a different
parameter list.
 Constructors use super to invoke the superclass's constructor. If a constructor uses super,
it must use it in the first line; otherwise, the compiler will complain.

36. What are the differences between Class Methods and Instance Methods?
Class Methods Instance Methods

Instance methods on the other hand require an

instance of the class to exist before they can be
Class methods are methods which are declared
called, so an instance of a class needs to be
as static. The method can be called without
created by using the new keyword.
creating an instance of the class
Instance methods operate on specific instances
of classes.

Class methods can only operate on class Instance methods of the class can also not be
members and not on instance members as class called from within a class method unless they
methods are unaware of instance members. are being called on an instance of that class.

Class methods are methods which are declared

as static. The method can be called without Instance methods are not declared as static.
creating an instance of the class.

[Link] are this() and super() used with constructors?

 Constructors use this to refer to another constructor in the same class with a different
parameter list.
 Constructors use super to invoke the superclass's constructor. If a constructor uses super,
it must use it in the first line; otherwise, the compiler will complain.

[Link] are Access Specifiers?

One of the techniques in object-oriented programming is encapsulation. It concerns the hiding of
data in a class and making this class available only through methods. Java allows you to control
access to classes, methods, and fields via so-called access specifiers..
[Link] are Access Specifiers available in Java?

Java offers four access specifiers, listed below in decreasing accessibility:

 Public- public classes, methods, and fields can be accessed from everywhere.
 Protected- protected methods and fields can only be accessed within the same class to
which the methods and fields belong, within its subclasses, and within classes of the same
package.
 Default(no specifier)- If you do not set access to specific level, then such a class,
method, or field will be accessible from inside the same package to which the class,
method, or field belongs, but not from outside this package.
 Private- private methods and fields can only be accessed within the same class to which
the methods and fields belong. private methods and fields are not visible within subclasses
and are not inherited by subclasses.
 Situation public protected default private

Accessible to class
yes yes yes no
from same package?

Accessible to class
yes no, unless it is a subclass no no
from different package?

[Link] is final modifier?

The final modifier keyword makes that the programmer cannot change the value anymore. The
actual meaning depends on whether it is applied to a class, a variable, or a method.

 final Classes- A final class cannot have subclasses.

 final Variables- A final variable cannot be changed once it is initialized.
 final Methods- A final method cannot be overridden by subclasses.

41. What are the uses of final method?

There are two reasons for marking a method as final:

 Disallowing subclasses to change the meaning of the method.

 Increasing efficiency by allowing the compiler to turn calls to the method into inline Java
code.

42. What is static block?

Static block which exactly executed exactly once when the class is first loaded into JVM. Before
going to the main method the static block will execute.

43. What are static variables?

Variables that have only one copy per class are known as static variables. They are not attached
to a particular instance of a class but rather belong to a class as a whole. They are declared by
using the static keyword as a modifier.

static type varIdentifier;

where, the name of the variable is varIdentifier and its data type is specified by type.
Note: Static variables that are not explicitly initialized in the code are automatically initialized
with a default value. The default value depends on the data type of the variables.

44. What is the difference between static and non-static variables?

A static variable is associated with the class as a whole rather than with specific instances of a
class. Non-static variables take on unique values with each object instance.

45. What are static methods?

Methods declared with the keyword static as modifier are called static methods or class methods.
They are so called because they affect a class as a whole, not a particular instance of the class.
Static methods are always invoked without reference to a particular instance of a class.
Note: The use of a static method suffers from the following restrictions:

 A static method can only call other static methods.

 A static method must only access static data.
 A static method cannot reference to the current object using keywords super or this.

Java Collections Interview Questions

46. What is an Iterator ?

 The Iterator interface is used to step through the elements of a Collection.
 Iterators let you process each element of a Collection.

 Iterators are a generic way to go through all the elements of a Collection no matter how it
is organized.
 Iterator is an Interface implemented a different way for every Collection.

47. How do you traverse through a collection using its Iterator?

To use an iterator to traverse through the contents of a collection, follow these steps:

 Obtain an iterator to the start of the collection by calling the collection’s iterator()
method.
 Set up a loop that makes a call to hasNext(). Have the loop iterate as long as hasNext()
returns true.
 Within the loop, obtain each element by calling next().

48. How do you remove elements during Iteration?

Iterator also has a method remove() when remove is called, the current element in the iteration is
deleted.

49. What is the difference between Enumeration and Iterator?

Enumeration Iterator

Enumeration doesn't have a remove() method Iterator has a remove() method

Enumeration acts as Read-only interface, Can be abstract, final, native, static, or

because it has the methods only to traverse and synchronized
fetch the objects

Note: So Enumeration is used whenever we want to make Collection objects as Read-only.

50. How is ListIterator?

ListIterator is just like Iterator, except it allows us to access the collection in either the forward
or backward direction and lets us modify an element

51. What is the List interface?

 The List interface provides support for ordered collections of objects.
 Lists may contain duplicate elements.

52. What are the main implementations of the List interface ?

The main implementations of the List interface are as follows :

 ArrayList : Resizable-array implementation of the List interface. The best all-around

implementation of the List interface.
 Vector : Synchronized resizable-array implementation of the List interface with
additional "legacy methods."
 LinkedList : Doubly-linked list implementation of the List interface. May provide better
performance than the ArrayList implementation if elements are frequently inserted or
deleted within the list. Useful for queues and double-ended queues (deques).

53. What are the advantages of ArrayList over arrays ?

Some of the advantages ArrayList has over arrays are

 It can grow dynamically

 It provides more powerful insertion and search mechanisms than arrays.

54. Difference between ArrayList and Vector ?

ArrayList Vector

ArrayList is NOT synchronized by default. Vector List is synchronized by default.

ArrayList can use only Iterator to access the Vector list can use Iterator and Enumeration
elements. Interface to access the elements.

The ArrayList increases its array size by 50 A Vector defaults to doubling the size of its
percent if it runs out of room. array if it runs out of room

ArrayList has no default size. While vector has a default size of 10.

[Link] to obtain Array from an ArrayList ?

Array can be obtained from an ArrayList using toArray() method on ArrayList.

List arrayList = new ArrayList();

[Link]()
Object a[] = [Link]();

[Link] insertion and deletion in ArrayList is slow compared to LinkedList ?

  ArrayList internally uses and array to store the elements, when that array gets filled by
inserting elements a new array of roughly 1.5 times the size of the original array is
created and all the data of old array is copied to new array.
 During deletion, all elements present in the array after the deleted elements have to be
moved one step back to fill the space created by deletion. In linked list data is stored in
nodes that have reference to the previous node and the next node so adding element is
simple as creating the node an updating the next pointer on the last node and the previous
pointer on the new node. Deletion in linked list is fast because it involves only
updating the next pointer in the node before the deleted node and updating the previous
pointer in the node after the deleted node.

57. Why are Iterators returned by ArrayList called Fail Fast ?

Because, if list is structurally modified at any time after the iterator is created, in any way except
through the iterator's own remove or add methods, the iterator will throw a
ConcurrentModificationException. Thus, in the face of concurrent modification, the iterator fails
quickly and cleanly, rather than risking arbitrary, non-deterministic behavior at an undetermined
time in the future.

58. How do you decide when to use ArrayList and When to use LinkedList?

If you need to support random access, without inserting or removing elements from any place
other than the end, then ArrayList offers the optimal collection. If, however, you need to
frequently add and remove elements from the middle of the list and only access the list elements
sequentially, then LinkedList offers the better implementation.

59. What is the Set interface ?

 The Set interface provides methods for accessing the elements of a finite mathematical
set
 Sets do not allow duplicate elements

 Contains no methods other than those inherited from Collection

 It adds the restriction that duplicate elements are prohibited
 Two Set objects are equal if they contain the same elements

60. What are the main Implementations of the Set interface ?

The main implementations of the List interface are as follows:

 HashSet
 TreeSet
 LinkedHashSet
 EnumSet

61. What is a HashSet ?

 A HashSet is an unsorted, unordered Set.

 It uses the hashcode of the object being inserted (so the more efficient your hashcode()
implementation the better access performance you’ll get).
  Use this class when you want a collection with no duplicates and you don’t care about
order when you iterate through it.

62. What is a TreeSet ?

TreeSet is a Set implementation that keeps the elements in sorted order. The elements are sorted
according to the natural order of elements or by the comparator provided at creation time.

63. What is an EnumSet

An EnumSet is a specialized set for use with enum types, all of the elements in the EnumSet type
that is specified, explicitly or implicitly, when the set is created.

64. Difference between HashSet and TreeSet ?

HashSet TreeSet

HashSet is under set interface i.e. it does not

TreeSet is under set i.e. it provides elements in a
guarantee for either sorted order or sequence
sorted order (acceding order).
order.

We can add only similar types

We can add any type of elements to hash set.
of elements to tree set.

65. What is a Map ?

 A map is an object that stores
associations between keys and values (key/value pairs).
 Given a key, you can find its value. Both keys and values are objects.

 The keys must be unique, but the values may be duplicated.

 Some maps can accept a null key and null values, others cannot.

66. What are the main Implementations of the Map interface ?

The main implementations of the List interface are as follows:

 HashMap
 HashTable
 TreeMap
 EnumMap

67. What is a TreeMap ?

TreeMap actually implements the SortedMap interface which extends the Map interface. In a
TreeMap the data will be sorted in ascending order of keys according to the natural order for the
key's class, or by the comparator provided at creation time. TreeMap is based on the Red-Black
tree data structure.

[Link] do you decide when to use HashMap and when to use TreeMap ?

For inserting, deleting, and locating elements in a Map, the HashMap offers the best alternative.
If, however, you need to traverse the keys in a sorted order, then TreeMap is your better
alternative. Depending upon the size of your collection, it may be faster to add elements to a
HashMap, then convert the map to a TreeMap for sorted key traversal.

[Link] between HashMap and Hashtable ?

HashMap Hashtable

HashMap lets you have null values as well as HashTable does not allows null values as key
one null key. and value.

The iterator in the HashMap is fail-safe (If you The enumerator for the Hashtable is not fail-
change the map while iterating, you’ll know). safe.

HashMap is unsynchronized. Hashtable is synchronized.

Note: Only one NULL is allowed as a key in HashMap. HashMap does not allow multiple keys
to be NULL. Nevertheless, it can have multiple NULL values.

[Link] does a Hashtable internally maintain the key-value pairs?

TreeMap actually implements the SortedMap interface which extends the Map interface. In a
TreeMap the data will be sorted in ascending order of keys according to the natural order for the
key's class, or by the comparator provided at creation time. TreeMap is based on the Red-Black
tree data structure.

71. What Are the different Collection Views That Maps Provide?

Maps Provide Three Collection Views.

 Key Set - allow a map's contents to be viewed as a set of keys.

 Values Collection - allow a map's contents to be viewed as a set of values.
 Entry Set - allow a map's contents to be viewed as a set of key-value mappings.

72. What is a KeySet View ?

KeySet is a set returned by the keySet() method of the Map Interface, It is a set that contains all
the keys present in the Map.

73. What is a Values Collection View ?

Values Collection View is a collection returned by the values() method of the Map Interface, It
contains all the objects present as values in the map.

74. What is an EntrySet View ?

Entry Set view is a set that is returned by the entrySet() method in the map and contains Objects
of type Map. Entry each of which has both Key and Value.

75 .How do you sort an ArrayList (or any list) of user-defined objects ?

Create an implementation of the [Link] interface that knows how to order your
objects and pass it to [Link](List, Comparator).
76. What is the Comparable interface ?

The Comparable interface is used to sort collections and arrays of objects using the
[Link]() and [Link]() methods respectively. The objects of the class
implementing the Comparable interface can be ordered.

The Comparable interface in the generic form is written as follows:

interface Comparable<T>

where T is the name of the type parameter.

All classes implementing the Comparable interface must implement the compareTo() method
that has the return type as an integer. The signature of the compareTo() method is as follows:

int i = [Link](object2)
 If object1 < object2: The value of i returned will be negative.
 If object1 > object2: The value of i returned will be positive.

 If object1 = object2: The value of i returned will be zero.

77. What are the differences between the Comparable and Comparator interfaces ?
Comparable Comparato

It uses the compareTo() method. t uses the compare() method.

int [Link](objectTwo). int compare(ObjOne, ObjTwo)

It is necessary to modify the class whose A separate class can be created in order to sort
instance is going to be sorted. the instances.

Only one sort sequence can be created. Many sort sequences can be created.

It is frequently used by the API classes. It used by third-party classes to sort instances.