Interface in C# - ablealias/asp.net GitHub Wiki

Interface

An interface contains only the signatures of methods, properties, events. A class or struct that implements the interface must implement the members of the interface that are specified in the interface definition. Interface helps to achieve multiple-inheritance in C#, a class can implements multiple interface at same time.

Example

interface ISampleInterface
{
    void SampleMethod();
}

class ImplementationClass : ISampleInterface
{
    // Explicit interface member implementation: 
    void ISampleInterface.SampleMethod()
    {
        // Method implementation.
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        // Declare an interface instance.
        ISampleInterface obj = new ImplementationClass();

        // Call the member.
        obj.SampleMethod();
    }
}

How to: Explicitly Implement Members of Two Interfaces

// Declare the English units interface:
interface IEnglishDimensions
{
    float Length();
    float Width();
}

// Declare the metric units interface:
interface IMetricDimensions
{
    float Length();
    float Width();
}

// Declare the Box class that implements the two interfaces:
// IEnglishDimensions and IMetricDimensions:
class Box : IEnglishDimensions, IMetricDimensions
{
    float lengthInches;
    float widthInches;

    public Box(float length, float width)
    {
        lengthInches = length;
        widthInches = width;
    }

    // Explicitly implement the members of IEnglishDimensions:
    float IEnglishDimensions.Length()
    {
        return lengthInches;
    }

    float IEnglishDimensions.Width()
    {
        return widthInches;
    }

    // Explicitly implement the members of IMetricDimensions:
    float IMetricDimensions.Length()
    {
        return lengthInches * 2.54f;
    }

    float IMetricDimensions.Width()
    {
        return widthInches * 2.54f;
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        // Declare a class instance box1:
        Box box1 = new Box(30.0f, 20.0f);

        // Declare an instance of the English units interface:
        IEnglishDimensions eDimensions = (IEnglishDimensions)box1;

        // Declare an instance of the metric units interface:
        IMetricDimensions mDimensions = (IMetricDimensions)box1;

        // Print dimensions in English units:
        System.Console.WriteLine("Length(in): {0}", eDimensions.Length());
        System.Console.WriteLine("Width (in): {0}", eDimensions.Width());

        // Print dimensions in metric units:
        System.Console.WriteLine("Length(cm): {0}", mDimensions.Length());
        System.Console.WriteLine("Width (cm): {0}", mDimensions.Width());
    }
}
/* Output:
    Length(in): 30
    Width (in): 20
    Length(cm): 76.2
    Width (cm): 50.8
*/

Interfaces Summary

An interface has the following properties:

• An interface is like an abstract base class. Any class or struct that implements the interface must implement all its members.
• An interface can't be instantiated directly. Its members are implemented by any class or struct that implements the interface.
• Interfaces can contain events, indexers, methods, and properties.
• Interfaces contain no implementation of methods.
• A class or struct can implement multiple interfaces. A class can inherit a base class and also implement one or more interfaces.
• In the interface no accessibility modifiers are allowed, they all must be public.