Mastering Java: The Ultimate Quiz for 'Thinking in Java'

What do interfaces and abstract classes provide?

1. A way to define static methods only

2. A mechanism to separate interface from implementation

3. A method to prevent inheritance

4. A technique for safe casting

The correct answer is: A mechanism to separate interface from implementation

Interfaces and abstract classes both provide a mechanism to separate interface from implementation. This is useful in situations where we want to define a set of methods that need to be implemented by a class, but we don't want to specify how those methods should be implemented. This allows for more flexibility and modularity in our code. Option A is incorrect because interfaces and abstract classes allow for both static and non-static methods to be defined. Option C is incorrect because interfaces and abstract classes can actually be used to encourage inheritance, as they can define a common set of methods for classes to implement. Option D is incorrect because interfaces and abstract classes do not relate to casting in any way.