Can an abstract class have a constructor?

Yes, an abstract class can have a constructor. Consider this:

abstract class Product { 
    int multiplyBy;
    public Product( int multiplyBy ) {
        this.multiplyBy = multiplyBy;
    }

    public int mutiply(int val) {
       return multiplyBy * val;
    }
}

class TimesTwo extends Product {
    public TimesTwo() {
        super(2);
    }
}

class TimesWhat extends Product {
    public TimesWhat(int what) {
        super(what);
    }
}

The superclass Product is abstract and has a constructor. The concrete class TimesTwo has a constructor that just hardcodes the value 2. The concrete class TimesWhat has a constructor that allows the caller to specify the value.

Abstract constructors will frequently be used to enforce class constraints or invariants such as the minimum fields required to setup the class.

NOTE: As there is no default (or no-arg) constructor in the parent abstract class, the constructor used in subclass must explicitly call the parent constructor.

You would define a constructor in an abstract class if you are in one of these situations:

• you want to perform some initialization (to fields of the abstract class) before the instantiation of a subclass actually takes place
• you have defined final fields in the abstract class but you did not initialize them in the declaration itself; in this case, you MUST have a constructor to initialize these fields

Note that:

• you may define more than one constructor (with different arguments)
• you can (should?) define all your constructors protected (making them public is pointless anyway)
• your subclass constructor(s) can call one constructor of the abstract class; it may even have to call it (if there is no no-arg constructor in the abstract class)

In any case, don't forget that if you don't define a constructor, then the compiler will automatically generate one for you (this one is public, has no argument, and does nothing).

Yes it can have a constructor and it is defined and behaves just like any other class's constructor. Except that abstract classes can't be directly instantiated, only extended, so the use is therefore always from a subclass's constructor.

In a concrete class, declaration of a constructor for a concrete type Fnord effectively exposes two things:

• A means by which code can request the creation of an instance of Fnord

• A means by which an instance of a type derived from Fnord which is under construction can request that all base-class features be initialized.

While there should perhaps be a means by which these two abilities could be controlled separately, for every concrete type one definition will enable both. Although the first ability is not meaningful for an abstract class, the second ability is just as meaningful for an abstract class as it would be for any other, and thus its declaration is just as necessary and useful.

Consider this:

abstract class Product { 
    int value;
    public Product( int val ) {
        value= val;
    }
    abstract public int multiply();
}

class TimesTwo extends Product {
    public int mutiply() {
       return value * 2;
    }
}

The superclass is abstract and has a constructor.

Since an abstract class can have variables of all access modifiers, they have to be initialized to default values, so constructor is necessary. As you instantiate the child class, a constructor of an abstract class is invoked and variables are initialized.

On the contrary, an interface does contain only constant variables means they are already initialized. So interface doesn't need a constructor.

The purpose of the constructor in a class is used to initialize fields but not to "build objects". When you try to create a new instance of an abstract SuperClass, the compiler will give you an error. However, we can inherit an abstract class Employee and make use of its constructor by setting its variables See example below

public abstract class Employee {
  private String EmpName;
  abstract double calcSalary();

  Employee(String name) {
    this.EmpName = name;// constructor of abstract class super class
  }
}

class Manager extends Employee{
 Manager(String name) {
    super(name);// setting the name in the constructor of sub class
 }
double calcSalary() {
    return 0;
 }
}

package Test1;

public class AbstractClassConstructor {

    public AbstractClassConstructor() {
        
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) {
       Demo obj = new Test("Test of code has started");
       obj.test1();
    }
}

abstract class Demo{
    protected final String demoValue;
       
    public Demo(String testName){
        this.demoValue = testName;
    }
       
    public abstract boolean test1();
}

class Test extends Demo{
       
    public Test(String name){
        super(name);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean test1() {
       System.out.println( this.demoValue + " Demo test started");
       return true;
    }
   
}