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Creating a subclass in Java is a fundamental concept that every Java programmer should be familiar with. A subclass is essentially a class that inherits properties and behaviors of an existing class, referred to as the superclass. Subclasses help us to extend the functionality of a class without having to modify the original class. In this blog, we will explore the steps involved in creating a subclass in Java.
The first step in creating a subclass is to define the superclass that the subclass will be inheriting from. This is done through the ‘extends’ keyword. For example, if we want to create a subclass called ‘Student’ that inherits from the ‘Person’ superclass, we would define it as follows: ‘public class Student extends Person’. This tells Java that we want to create a new class called ‘Student’ that has all the properties and behaviors of the ‘Person’ class.
Once we have defined the subclass, we can then add any additional functionality that we require. This involves adding new properties and methods to the subclass. For example, we can add a new property to the ‘Student’ class called ‘studentID’ by declaring it as follows: ‘private int studentID;’. We can then add a method to the ‘Student’ class that returns the value of the ‘studentID’ property.
To access the properties and methods of the superclass, we use the ‘super’ keyword. This allows us to call methods that are defined in the superclass from within the subclass. For example, if we want to call the ‘getAge’ method that is defined in the ‘Person’ superclass, we would do so as follows: ‘int age = super.getAge();’.
In summary, creating a subclass in Java involves defining the superclass that the subclass will be inheriting from, adding any additional properties and methods that are required, and using the ‘super’ keyword to access the properties and methods of the superclass. By following these steps, we can create powerful and flexible Java programs that are capable of handling a wide range of tasks.
