is System.in an object reference of InputStream class?

Question

InputStream is an Abstract class.Then how are we able to access System.in.And moreover int read() is an abstract method in InputStream class.Then how are we able to access S

Answer 1

InputStream is an abstract class which cannot be instantiated directly. System.in refers to the object of type InputStream which means that System.in refers to the object of that class which extends the InputStream class.

For example

abstract class IAmAbstract{
// ...
}

class IAmNotAbstract extends IAmAbstract{
// ...
}

Of course, the following statement is correct:

IAmNotAbstract obj = new IAmNotAbstract();

As well as this statement is also correct:

IAmAbstract obj = new IAmNotAbstract();

So, any object of subclass of InputStream is also a type of InputStream class and subclass itself.

Answer 2

is System.in an object reference of InputStream class?

yes!, it is declared/documented in the System class:

/**
 * The "standard" input stream. This stream is already
 * open and ready to supply input data. Typically this stream
 * corresponds to keyboard input or another input source specified by
 * the host environment or user.
 */
public final static InputStream in = null;

but at runtime is a reference to a BufferedInputStream class

so ou are not instantiating an abstract class

Answer 3

I suggest you to read more about abstraction and inheritance methods in Java.

If you extend an abstract class, you have to implement its abstract methods. This way, you provide an implementation for it, which can be called by consumers.

System.in is an instance of a class which extends InputStream, not of InputStream directly.