What is the difference between abstract classes and inheritance?
Inheritance is a design principle in object oriented languages like Java. Inheritance means that classes acquire methods and properties by declaring that they are a sub-class of a class that already has those features. This can significantly improve the efficiency and management of code because methods only need to be written once and can be used by any number of sub-classes. An abstract class is one that is designed to provide methods or properties to sub-classes like a template. Abstract classes cannot be instantiated in their own right and usually contain abstract methods that sub-classes must implement to complete the intended inheritance program design. For instance, abstract methods may have a concrete method that calls an abstract method, whose implementation varies in each sub-class. Actions: Follow-up, clarify or correct this answer. Submit a new question.
