Chapter Summary

The following information was included in this chapter:

• categories of nested classes: static member classes and interfaces, non-static member classes, local classes, anonymous classes

• discussion of salient aspects of nested classes and interfaces:

  • the context in which they can be defined

  • which accessibility modifiers are valid for such classes and interfaces

  • whether an instance of the enclosing context is associated with an instance of the nested class

  • which entities a nested class or interface can access in its enclosing contexts

  • whether both static and non-static members can be defined in a nested class

• importing and using nested classes and interfaces

• instantiating non-static member classes using <enclosing object reference>.new syntax

• accessing members in the enclosing context of inner classes using <enclosing class name>.this syntax

• accessing members both in the inheritance hierarchy and the enclosing context of nested classes

• implementing anonymous classes by extending an existing class or by implementing an interface