I have come across the term programming to an interface instead of an implementation a lot, and I think I kind of understand what it means. But I want to make sure I understand it's benefits and it's possible implementations.Programming to an interface means, that when possible, one should refer to a more abstract level of a class (an interface, abstract class, or sometimes a superclass of some sort), instead of refering to a concrete implementation.A common example in Java, is to use:List myList = new ArrayList(); instead of ArrayList myList = new ArrayList(); .I have two questions regarding this:I want to make sure I understand the main benefits of this approach. I think the benefits are mostly flexibility. Declaring an object as a more high-level reference, rather than a concrete implementation, allows for more flexibility and maintainablity throughout the development cycle and throughout the code. Is this correct? Is flexibility the main benefit?Are there more ways of 'programming to an interface'? Or is declaring a variable as an interface rather than a concrete implementation the the only implementation of this concept?I'm not talking about the Java construct Interface. I'm talking about the OO principle programming to an interface, not an implementation. In this principle, the world interface refers to any supertype of a class - an interface, an abstract class, or a simple superclass which is more abstract and less concrete than it's more concrete subclasses.
Understanding programming to an interface
design;object oriented;interfaces