Can we instantiate an abstract class?

Question

During one of my interview, I was asked \"If we can instantiate an abstract class?\"

My reply was \"No. we can\'t\". But, interviewer told me \"Wrong, we can.\"

Answer 1

It is a well-established fact that abstract class can not be instantiated as everyone answered.

When the program defines anonymous class, the compiler actually creates a new class with different name (has the pattern EnclosedClassName$n where n is the anonymous class number)

So if you decompile this Java class you will find the code as below:

my.class

abstract class my { 
    public void mymethod() 
    { 
        System.out.print("Abstract"); 
    }
} 

poly$1.class (the generated class of the "anonymous class")

class poly$1 extends my 
{
} 

ploly.cass

public class poly extends my
{
    public static void main(String[] a)
    {
        my m = new poly.1(); // instance of poly.1 class NOT the abstract my class

        m.mymethod();
    }
}