Can you explain what an abstract class means in object-oriented programming?

An abstract class in object-oriented programming is a class that is not intended to be instantiated directly, but serves as a base template for other classes.

Main features of an abstract class:

• Can contain both implemented methods and abstract methods (without implementation).
• Abstract methods must be implemented in subclasses.
• Allows defining a common interface and behavior for a group of related classes.

In Python, abstract classes are created using the abc module and the @abstractmethod decorator.

Example:

from abc import ABC, abstractmethod

class Animal(ABC):
    @abstractmethod
    def make_sound(self):
        pass

class Dog(Animal):
    def make_sound(self):
        print("Woof")

# animal = Animal()  # Error: cannot instantiate an abstract class
dog = Dog()
dog.make_sound()  # Outputs: Woof

Thus, an abstract class defines a mandatory set of methods for its subclasses, ensuring interface consistency.