a class designed with implementation gaps for subclasses to fill in and is deliberately incomplete

a class that can not be instantiated, but is intended to be extended by another, non-abstract, class

a class that cannot be instantiated, but must be inherited from

a class that can only be a base class for other classes

a class that can only be AbstractTest

a class that collects generic state and behavioral information

a class that is incomplete, or considered incomplete

a class that is missing definitions for one or more of it's methods

a class that is not designed for instantiation at run-time

a class that is only intended for use as a base class

a class that may not have direct instance s

a class that must be inherited and have the methods overridden

a class which can only be used through its subclasses that implement its methods

a class which contains only pure virtual functions

a class which is defined for the purpose of grouping variables and methods which will be useful in more than one subclass, but which is not int ended for use by itself

a class which is incomplete, or considered incomplete

a class which is only partially implemented by the programmer

a class which may have the usual flavors of class members (private, protected, etc

a class whose declaration includes the keyword abstract

a class whose primary purpose is to define a common interface for its subclasses

a class whose role is only meant to lay a foundation for those classes that would need a common behavior or similar characteristics

a class with at least one pure virtual specifier

a Java class which defines the necessary methods and data of any of it's subclasses

a parent class that allows inheritance but can never be instantiated

a partial class definition because it can contain other member functions that are not pure virtual functions

a place holder in a class hierarchy

a set of classes

a so-called superclass, or parent , which functions as a placeholder for items of a common function , and provides a common interface for inherited classes

a superclass of which one is not expected to create instances

a type and it can be used as a base class to derive other classes

In Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), a class from which you cannot create an instance because it does not have a full implementation. An abstract class serves as a base class from which other classes can inherit properties and methods. Also see concrete class.

A WMI base class used only as a template for derived classes. For example, the __Event system class is an abstract class. Real-world events are modeled using classes derived from the __Event class, and instances are created from the __Event subclasses.

A class which is used only as an ancestor and is never instantiated.

A class that defines an interface or partially implements one (see also concrete class).

a class that cannot have direct instances but whose descendents can have instances; a class that has declared one or more methods for which it does not provide definitions

A class that cannot have direct instances. The opposite of an abstract class is a concrete class.

A class that provides common behavior across a set of subclasses, but is not itself designed to have instances that work.

A class that is never instantiated into an object.

base class which can only be used to derive other classes - never can be used to create an object of that type.

A class that should never be instantiated; only its subclasses should be instantiated. Abstract classes are defined so that other classes can inherit from them.

A class that's defined solely so that other classes can inherit from it. Programs don't use instances of an abstract class, only of its subclasses.

A class which does not act as a creator of instance objects. Abstract classes implement behavior for their subclasses.

A class that contains one or more abstract methods, and therefore can never be instantiated. Abstract classes are defined so that other classes can extend them and make them concrete by implementing the abstract methods.

A class that can not be directly instantiated. Contrast with concrete class.

A SOM class that is not designed to be instantiated, but serves as a base class for the definition of subclasses. Regardless of whether an abstract class inherits instance data and methods from parent classes, it will always introduce methods that must be overridden in a subclass, in order to produce a class whose objects are semantically valid.

(1) A class with at least one pure virtual function that is used as a base class for other classes. The abstract class represents a concept; classes derived from it represent implementations of the concept. You cannot construct an object of an abstract class. See reference class. Contrast with concrete class. (2) A class that allows polymorphism.

A class that cannot be instantiated, because it has one or more pure virtual functions. See also pure virtual.

A class that cannot be directly instantiated. Contrast: concrete class.

An abstract class is a class that you create as a basis for other classes rather than with the intention of instantiating and using. An abstract class is generally a class that is used to group a set of subclasses with a common interface. In a true OO programming language, it is not possible to instantiate an abstract class.

A class that would never instantiate an object itself, but serves as good logical building point for other classes that do instantiate themselves (concrete classes). Abstract classes are indicated in italics in class outlines.

An abstract class is a type of class that cannot be instantiated, it merely exists to be extended and contains methods and varaibles common to all sub-classes.