Java Inner Classes: Pros & Cons
Advantages:
- Inner classes have access to private members of outer classes, thus expanding the functionality of the outer class.
- Inner classes can implement interfaces, inherit abstract classes, and increase flexibility.
- Inner classes can hide implementation details, enhancing the encapsulation of the code.
- Inner classes can easily access the properties and methods of the outer class, reducing the amount of code.
Drawbacks:
- Inner classes add complexity to the code and reduce readability.
- The creation of inner class objects requires the creation of outer class objects, which increases code coupling.
- The scope of inner classes is limited to the outer class and they cannot be instantiated separately outside the outer class.
- Inner classes increase the number of classes, which may result in the compiled bytecode file being too large.