Adapter Class
Java AWT Adapters are abstract classes
from java.awt.event package.
Every listener that includes more than one abstract
method has got a corresponding adapter class.
• The adapter classes are very special classes that are
used to make event handling very easy.
• There are listener interfaces that have many methods
for event handling and we know that by implementing
an interface we have to implement all the methods of
that interface.
• But sometimes we need only one or some methods
of the interface.
• In that case, Adapter classes are the best solution.
• For example, the MouseListener interface has five methods:
mouseClicked(), mouseEntered(), mouseExited(),
mousePressed() and mouseReleased().
• If in your program, you just need two events:
mouseEntered() and mouseExited() that time you can use
adapter class for the mouseListener interface.
• The adpter classes contain an empty implementation for
each method of the event listener interface.
• To use the adapter class, you have to extend that adapter
class.
Listener Interface Adapter Class
ComponentListener ComponentAdapter
ContainerListener ContainerAdapter
FocusListener FocusAdapter
KeyListener KeyAdapter
MouseListener MouseAdapter
MouseMotionListener MouseMotionAdapter
WindowListener WindowAdapter
Here's a mouse adapter that beeps when the mouse is clicked
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class MouseBeeper extends MouseAdapter
{
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt)
{
Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().beep();
}
}
Without extending the MouseAdapter class, I would have had to write the same class like this
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class MouseBeeper implements MouseListener
{
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt)
{
Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().beep();
}
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent evt) {}
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent evt) {}
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt) {}
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent evt) {}
}
Inner Classes
Inner classes are a security mechanism in Java.
Inner class is a class defined inside other class
and act like a member of the enclosing class.
Unlike a class, an inner class can be private
and once you declare an inner class private, it
cannot be accessed from an object outside
the class.
class Outer_Demo
{
int num;
//inner class
private class Inner_Demo
{
public void print()
{
System.out.println("This is an inner class");
}
}
//Accessing the inner class from the method within the outer class
void display_Inner()
{
Inner_Demo inner = new Inner_Demo();
inner.print();
}
}
public class My_class
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
//Instantiating the outer class
Outer_Demo outer=new Outer_Demo();
//Accessing the display_Inner() method.
outer.display_Inner();
}
}
Inner classes are of three types depending on
how and where you define them. They are:
– Inner Class
– Method-local Inner Classes
– Anonymous Inner Class
Method-local Inner Class
When an inner class is defined inside the
method of Outer Class it becomes Method
local inner class.
Method local inner class can be instantiated
within the method where it is defined and no
where else.
Method local inner class can only be declared
as final or abstract.
Method local class can only access global
variables or method local variables if declared
as final.
public class Outerclass
{
//instance method of the outer class
void my_Method()
{
int num=23;
//method-local inner class
class MethodInner_Demo
{
public void print()
{
System.out.println("This is method inner class "+num);
}
}//end of inner class
//Accessing the inner class
MethodInner_Demo inner=new MethodInner_Demo();
inner.print();
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
Outerclass outer =new Outerclass();
outer.my_Method();
}
}
Output will be:
Advantage of java inner classes
• Nested classes represent a special type of
relationship that is it can access all the members
(data members and methods) of outer class including
private and still have its own type.
• The outer class members which are going to be used
by the inner class can be made private and the inner
class members can be hidden from the classes in the
same package. This increases the level of
encapsulation.
• Nested classes are used to develop more readable
and maintainable code because it logically group
classes and interfaces in one place only.
• Code Optimization: It requires less code to write.
