Define abstract classes

Question

Define abstract classes and also describe its distinct characteristics?

Answer 1

Abstract classes can be defined as the class which cannot be instantiated and are always used as the base class.
The characteristics of an abstract class are as follows:

i. Abstract class is always public

ii. We cannot instantiate the abstract class directly. Which implies that we cannot create the object of an abstract class; it should be inherited.

iii. Abstract class is declared by using an abstract keyword.

iv. We can have abstract as well as non-abstract members in the abstract class.

v. We must state at least one abstract method in a abstract class.
The central purpose of the abstract class is to offer a common definition of a base class which multiple derived classes could share.