ICE 127: Object Oriented Programming

Credit Hour: 3
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Course Teacher
Md Istakiak Adnan Palash

Department of Information & Communication Engineering

Daffodil International University

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 Java Inner Classes
• Java inner class or nested class is a class which is declared inside
the class or interface.

• We use inner classes to logically group classes and interfaces in

one place so that it can be more readable and maintainable.

• Additionally, it can access all the members of outer class

including private data members and methods.

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Syntax of Inner class

class Java_Outer_class{
//code
class Java_Inner_class{
//code
}
}

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 Advantage of java inner classes
• There are basically three advantages of inner classes in java. They
are as follows:
• 1) 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.
• 2) Nested classes are used to develop more readable and
maintainable code because it logically group classes and
interfaces in one place only.
• 3) Code Optimization: It requires less code to write.

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 Difference between nested class and
inner class in Java
• Inner class is a part of nested class. Non-static nested classes are
known as inner classes.
Types of Nested classes:
• Non-static nested class (inner class)
• Member inner class
• Anonymous inner class (Will learn later on)
• Local inner class

• Static nested class

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Difference between nested class and inner
class in Java
Type Description

Member Inner Class A class created within class and outside

method.
Anonymous Inner A class created for implementing
Class interface or extending class. Its name is
decided by the java compiler.
Local Inner Class A class created within method.
Static Nested Class A static class created within class.
Nested Interface An interface created within class or
interface.

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 Java Member inner class
A non-static class that is created inside a class but outside a method
is called member inner class.
Syntax:
class Outer{
//code
class Inner{
//code
}
}

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 Java Member inner class
class TestMemberOuter1{
private int data=30;
class Inner{
void msg(){System.out.println("data is "+data);}
}
public static void main(String args[]){
TestMemberOuter1 obj=new TestMemberOuter1();
TestMemberOuter1.Inner in=obj.new Inner();
in.msg();
}
}
Output: data is 30
In this example, we are creating msg() method in member
inner class that is accessing the private data member of
outer class.
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 Internal working of Java member inner class
• The java compiler creates two class files in case of inner class.
The class file name of inner class is "Outer$Inner".

• If you want to instantiate inner class, you must have to create

the instance of outer class. In such case, instance of inner class is
created inside the instance of outer class.

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 Java Local inner class
• A class i.e. created inside a method is called local inner class in
java. If you want to invoke the methods of local inner class, you
must instantiate this class inside the method.

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 Java Local inner class
public class localInner1{
private int data=30;//instance variable
void display(){
class Local{
void msg(){System.out.println(data);}
} Output:
Local l=new Local(); 30
l.msg();
}
public static void main(String args[]){
localInner1 obj=new localInner1();
obj.display();
}
}
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 Java Local inner class
Rule: Local variable can't be private, public or protected.

Rules for Java Local Inner class:

1) Local inner class cannot be invoked from outside the method.

2) Local inner class cannot access non-final local variable till JDK 1.7.
Since JDK 1.8, it is possible to access the non-final local variable in
local inner class.

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 Example of local inner class with local variable
class localInner2{
private int data=30;//instance variable
void display(){
int value=50;//local variable must be final till jdk 1.7 only
class Local{
void msg(){System.out.println(value);}
}
Output:
Local l=new Local();
50
l.msg();
}
public static void main(String args[]){
localInner2 obj=new localInner2();
obj.display();
}
}
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 Java static nested class
• A static class i.e. created inside a class is called static nested class
in java. It cannot access non-static data members and methods. It
can be accessed by outer class name.
- It can access static data members of outer class including
private.
- Static nested class cannot access non-static (instance) data
member or method.

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 Java static nested class example with
instance method
class TestOuter1{
static int data=30; In this example, you need to
static class Inner{ create the instance of static
void msg(){System.out.println("data is "+d
nested class because it has
ata);}
instance method msg().
}
But you don't need to create the
public static void main(String args[]){
TestOuter1.Inner obj=new TestOuter1.Inne
object of Outer class because
r(); nested class is static and static
obj.msg(); properties, methods or classes
} can be accessed without object.
}

Output:
data is 30
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Java static nested class example with static method
class TestOuter2{
static int data=30;
static class Inner{
static void msg(){System.out.println("data is "+data);}
}
public static void main(String args[]){
TestOuter2.Inner.msg();//no need to create the instance of static
nested class
}
}

Output: data is 30

If you have the static member inside static nested class, you
don't need to create instance of static nested class.
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Thank You

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