C# abstract class

last modified July 5, 2023

In this article we show how to work with abstract classes in C#.

An abstract class in an unfinished class. It must be implemented in its subclasses. Abstract class is created with the abstract keywords. We can create abstract methods and member fields.

The purpose of an abstract class is to provide a common definition for descendant classes.

Abstract classes cannot be instantiated. If a class contains at least one abstract method, it must be declared abstract too. Abstract methods cannot be implemented; they merely declare the methods' signatures. When we inherit from an abstract class, all abstract methods must be implemented by the derived class. Furthermore, these methods must be declared with the same of less restricted visibility.

Unlike Interfaces, abstract classes may have methods with full implementation and may also have defined member fields. So abstract classes may provide a partial implementation. We put some common functionality into abstract classes.

C# abstract class example

The following example creates an abstract class.

var c = new Circle(12, 45, 22);

Console.WriteLine(c);
Console.WriteLine($"Area of circle: {c.Area()}");
Console.WriteLine(c.GetCoordinates());

Console.WriteLine("---------------------");

var r = new Rectangle(10, 20, 50, 60);
Console.WriteLine(r);
Console.WriteLine($"Area of rectangle: {r.Area()}");
Console.WriteLine(r.GetCoordinates());

abstract class Drawing
{
    protected int x = 0;
    protected int y = 0;

    public abstract double Area();

    public string GetCoordinates()
    {
        return $"x: {x}, y: {y}";
    }
}

class Circle : Drawing
{
    private int r;

    public Circle(int x, int y, int r)
    {
        this.x = x;
        this.y = y;
        this.r = r;
    }

    public override double Area()
    {
        return this.r * this.r * Math.PI;
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return $"Circle at x: {x}, y: {x}, radius: {r}";
    }
}

class Rectangle : Drawing
{
    private int width;
    private int height;

    public Rectangle(int x, int y, int width, int height)
    {
        this.x = x;
        this.y = y;
        this.width = width;
        this.height = height;
    }

    public override double Area()
    {
        return this.width * this.height;
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return $"Rectangle at x: {x}, y: {y}, w: {width} h: {height}";
    }
}

We have an abstract base Drawing class. The class defines two member fields, defines one method and declares one method. One of the methods is abstract, the other one is fully implemented. The Drawing class is abstract because we cannot draw it. We can draw a circle, a dot or a square. The Drawing class has some common functionality to the objects that we can draw.

abstract class Drawing

We use the abstract keyword to define an abstract class.

public abstract double Area();

An abstract method is also preceded with the abstract keyword.

class Circle : Drawing

A Circle is a subclass of the Drawing class. It must implement the abstract Area method.

private int r;

We declare the radius member field, which is specific to the Circle class.

public Circle(int x, int y, int r)
{
    this.x = x;
    this.y = y;
    this.r = r;
}

This is the constructor of Circle; it sets the member variables. The x and y variables are inherited from Drawing.

public override double Area()
{
    return this.r * this.r * Math.PI;
}

When we implement the Area method, we must use the override keyword. This way we inform the compiler that we override an existing (inherited) method.

class Rectangle : Drawing

Another concrete shape is a Rectangle.

private int width;
private int height;

The Rectangle defines two variables: width and height.

public override double Area()
{
    return this.width * this.height;
}

The Rectangle provides its own implementation of the Area method.

$ dotnet run
Circle at x: 12, y: 12, radius: 22
Area of circle: 1520.53084433746
x: 12, y: 45
---------------------
Rectangle at x: 10, y: 20, w: 50 h: 60
Area of rectangle: 3000
x: 10, y: 20

Source

Abstract and Sealed Classes and Class Members

In this article we worked with abstract classes in C#.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar and I am a passionate programmer with many years of programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. So far, I have written over 1400 articles and 8 e-books. I have over eight years of experience in teaching programming.

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