What is the purpose of the 'interface' keyword in OOP?

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What is the purpose of the 'interface' keyword in OOP?

The 'interface' keyword in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) serves the purpose of defining a contract or a set of rules that a class must adhere to. It is used to declare a collection of abstract methods, which are methods without any implementation, that a class implementing the interface must provide.

The main purpose of using interfaces is to achieve abstraction and provide a way to achieve multiple inheritances in Java and other languages that support interfaces. By implementing an interface, a class can inherit the abstract methods defined in the interface and provide its own implementation for those methods.

Interfaces allow for loose coupling between classes, as they provide a way to define a common behavior that multiple unrelated classes can adhere to. This promotes code reusability and modularity, as different classes can implement the same interface and be used interchangeably in various parts of the program.

Additionally, interfaces can also be used to achieve polymorphism, where an object can be treated as an instance of multiple types. By programming to an interface rather than a specific class, the code becomes more flexible and adaptable to changes, as different implementations of the interface can be easily swapped without affecting the rest of the codebase.

In summary, the 'interface' keyword in OOP is used to define a contract or a set of rules that a class must adhere to, promoting abstraction, code reusability, modularity, and polymorphism.