Difference between an Interface and an Abstract class

There are quite a big difference between an interface and an abstract class, even though both look similar.

• Interface definition begins with a keyword interface so it is of type interface
• Abstract classes are declared with the abstract keyword so it is of type class
• Interface has no implementation, but they have to be implemented.
• Abstract class’s methods can have implementations and they have to be extended.
• Interfaces can only have method declaration (implicitly public and abstract) and fields (implicitly public static)
• Abstract class’s methods can’t have implementation only when declared abstract.
• Interface can inherit more than one interfaces
• Abstract class can implement more than one interfaces, but can inherit only one class
• Abstract class must override all abstract method and may override virtual methods
• Interface can be used when the implementation is changing
• Abstract class can be used to provide some default behavior for a base class.
• Interface makes implementation interchangeable
• Interface increase security by hiding the implementation
• Abstract class can be used when implementing framework
• Abstract classes are an excellent way to create planned inheritance hierarchies and also to use as non-leaf classes in class hierarchies.