When to use abstract vs concrete in C Sharp (C#) - Hands-On Comparison

When to use abstract vs concrete in C#

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are building a simple program to manage different types of vehicles in a garage. Some vehicles share common features, but each type has its own way of moving.

🎯 Goal: You will create an abstract class for vehicles and concrete classes for specific vehicle types. This will help you understand when to use abstract classes versus concrete classes in C#.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an abstract class called Vehicle with an abstract method Move().

Create two concrete classes called Car and Bicycle that inherit from Vehicle.

Implement the Move() method differently in Car and Bicycle.

Create instances of Car and Bicycle and call their Move() methods.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Abstract classes help organize code when many objects share common features but behave differently. For example, different vehicles share moving but move in their own way.

💼 Career

Understanding abstract vs concrete classes is important for designing clean, reusable code in software development jobs.

1

Create an abstract class Vehicle

Write an abstract class called Vehicle with an abstract method Move() that returns void.

C Sharp (C#)

abstract class Vehicle
{
    // Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use the abstract keyword before the class and the method. The method should have no body.

2

Create concrete classes Car and Bicycle

Create two concrete classes called Car and Bicycle that inherit from Vehicle.

C Sharp (C#)

abstract class Vehicle
{
    public abstract void Move();
}

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use : Vehicle to inherit. Override the Move() method in both classes.

3

Create instances of Car and Bicycle

Create variables called myCar and myBike and assign new instances of Car and Bicycle respectively.

C Sharp (C#)

abstract class Vehicle
{
    public abstract void Move();
}

class Car : Vehicle
{
    public override void Move()
    {
        System.Console.WriteLine("Car is driving");
    }
}

class Bicycle : Vehicle
{
    public override void Move()
    {
        System.Console.WriteLine("Bicycle is pedaling");
    }
}

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the abstract class type Vehicle for the variables and assign new objects.

4

Call Move() on the instances

Call the Move() method on myCar and myBike and print the output.

C Sharp (C#)

abstract class Vehicle
{
    public abstract void Move();
}

class Car : Vehicle
{
    public override void Move()
    {
        System.Console.WriteLine("Car is driving");
    }
}

class Bicycle : Vehicle
{
    public override void Move()
    {
        System.Console.WriteLine("Bicycle is pedaling");
    }
}

Vehicle myCar = new Car();
Vehicle myBike = new Bicycle();

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Call Move() on both variables to see their different behaviors.