i have just started learning java::Inheritance and confused while mixing Up-Casting.
class Example{
public void methodOne(){
System.out.println("Example::Method_1");
}
public void methodTwo(){
System.out.println("Example::Method_2");
}
}
public class Test extends Example{
public void methodTwo(){ //Method overriding
System.out.println("Test::Method_2");
}
public void methodThree(){
System.out.println("Test::Method_3");
}
public static void main(String[] args){
Example exa = new Test(); // UpCasting
exa.methodOne(); // Printing Example::Method_1
exa.methodTwo(); // Printing Test::Method_2
// exa.methodThree(); // Error : can not find symbol
}
}
may someone please explain, what happening here??
When using inheritance, the compile-time type of the reference to an object on which you call a method is only used to see (at compile time) if the method may be invoked.
But at the invocation time, it does not matter what that compile-time type is. What really matters in this case is the runtime type of the object. It is Test, so the method is searched on Test first.
For methodOne() it is a bit different: it is not overriden by Test, so the version from its superclass (Example) is invoked.
Class Test extends Example and overrides the implementation of the methodTwo while adding new method methodThree. Now in you main
public static void main(String[] args){
Example exa = new Test(); // UpCasting
exa.methodOne(); // Printing Example::Method_1
exa.methodTwo(); // Printing Test::Method_2
// exa.methodThree(); // Error : can not find symbol
}
Static type of the variable exa is Example hence API usage bounded by public methods defined in Example class therefore it's illegal to call exa.methodThree() (not defined it Example).
While for methods which are define at Example class there is a dynamic binding at runtime, which leads to concrete implementation based on the reference pointed by exa variable. Therefore exa.methodTwo() call leads to execution of overrided function, since dynamic type is Test. And since Test doesn't override methodOne calling exa.methodOne() will lead to the implementation defined by Example.
if we create object of subclass and use reference of supper class then runtime time dynamic binding happens means at runtime java decides that which thing should get called.
in your case :
1. exa.methodOne(); methodOne belongs to super class and its not being overridden in child class so parent class method will be executed.
here if you create object like Test test = new Test(); then also test.methodOne() will give you the same result.
exa.methodTwo(); here methodTwo is being overridden in child class so at run time overridden method will get bonded and same will get executed.
in third case its giving error because you are using parent class reference but methodThree() is not part of parent so compile error is being thrown.
if wanna call third method then you can call like this : Test test = new Test(); test.methodThree()
FYI,
for safety we should always use #Override annotation in child call methods if we want to override any parent class method. it will help to avoid any method override glitches.
Related
Given two classes, a parent class and a child class:
class A {
private void greet() {
System.out.println("Class A");
}
}
class B extends A {
public void greet() {
System.out.println("Class B");
}
}
One has a method called greet(), which is private, and the other one defines a method with the same name, only that it is public. Now, as far as I know, the child's greet() method doesn't override the parent's method, because it 'hides' it? (given the fact that private methods can't be overridden?)
Now, given the following class and method (considered to be in the same package as A and B):
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
B b = new B();
b.greet();
}
}
This should compile. But this one:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
A a = new B();
b.greet();
}
}
This one up here doesn't compile, because it's missing a typecast.
My question would be: why? If the greet() method was public in both places, it would have shown Class B both times. I'm pretty confused about why Java doesn't figure at runtime, for the second case, that a is actually referencing to an object of type B, and directly calls the method from class B.
Tried reading more about polymorphism in an OCA-preparation book, but the authors didn't seem to be so specific about it.
In your snippet that doesn't compile, the compiler sees that the compile time type of a is class A.
Therefore, it will only allow you to call accessible methods of class A (or of super-classes of A). greet is a private method of A, and therefore not accessible. Therefore the compiler doesn't allow calling it.
The fact that the runtime type of a would be class B, which has an accessible greet method, makes no difference, since the compiler doesn't try to figure out what the runtime type of a variable would be.
At compile time A.greet() is not accessible.
Hence does not compile.
For overriding, the method must be accessible at compile time, but the decision to call the method is done at runtime.
Why does the below code print "Main"?
public class Main
{
public static void method()
{
System.out.println("Main");
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Main m = new SubMain();
m.method();
}
}
class SubMain extends Main
{
public static void method()
{
System.out.println("SubMain");
}
}
At runtime, m is pointing to an instance of Submain, so it should conceptually print "SubMain".
Static methods are resolved on the compile-time type of the variable. m is of type Main, so the method in Main is called.
If you change it to SubMain m ..., then the method on SubMain will be called.
It is because static methods are not polymorphic. Moreover static method should be invoked not by object but using the class, i.e. Main.method() or SubMain.method().
When you are calling m.method() java actually calls Main.method() because m is of type Main.
If you want to enjoy polymorphism do not use static methods.
Eclipse gives me this sort of warning when I try to do this sort of thing:
The static method XXX() from the type XXX should be accessed in a static way
Static methods do not take part in inheritance. The variable is of type Main, so the compiler resolved your function call to Main.method().
For added fun, try setting m to null.
Java performs early binding for static methods, unlike instance methods which are dynamically bound.
Because your object variable is of type Main the call is bound to the superclass implementation at compile time.
A good explanation is available here.
static methods are statically binded with their class name because m is type of Main class
then after compilation it would look like as following
Main.method();
after compilation of your class
run the following command
javap -c Main
u can see the jvm assembly code for Main class
and u would see following
m.method //invoke static
invoke static ,invoke special tells that static binding
invoke special,invoke interface tells that dynamic binding
Ok just for sake knowledge , I tried below cases (Assume that Class A and B are in same package)
ClassA
public class ClassA {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("A");
}
}
ClassB
public class ClassB extends ClassA {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("B");
}
}
executing above ClassB it will produce output of B now after below change in classB
ClassB
public class ClassB extends ClassA {
//blank body
}
If I compile and run in terminal it gives me output A that was totally surprising as it should had given NoSuchMethodError as no main method was their so kindly explain the weird behavior ?
Note: Many answers contains Override word please use hiding as we cannot override static methods in java.
In the first case, you're hiding the main method since you're defining a new one in the subclass, in the second case you didn't you'll inherent A's main.
See The Java™ Tutorials - Overriding and Hiding:
If a subclass defines a static method with the same signature as a
static method in the superclass, then the method in the subclass hides the one in the superclass.
In Java subclasses inherit all methods of their base classes, including their static methods.
Defining an instance method in the subclass with the matching name and parameters of a method in the superclass is an override. Doing the same thing for static methods hides the method of the superclass.
Hiding does not mean that the method disappears, though: both methods remain callable with the appropriate syntax. In your first example everything is clear: both A and B have their own main; calling A.main() prints A, while calling B.main() prints B.
In your second example, calling B.main() is also allowed. Since main is inherited from A, the result is printing A.
public static void main(String[] args) is just a method which you inherit from A in second case.
Given the following code:
SuperClass :
package poc.poc;
public class SuperClass {
private void method() {
System.out.println("SuperClass!");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
SuperClass s = new SubClass();
s.method();
}
}
SubClass :
package poc.poc;
public class SubClass extends SuperClass {
public void method() {
System.out.println("Subclass!");
}
}
When I run the main method of SuperClass , I would expect to get an exception of some sort, but actually the code in the SuperClass is run, rather than the code in the SubClass, and therefore running an instance method of the superclass type on a subclass instance.
Why does this happen?
EDIT: Doesn't this violate encapsulation?
P.S. When changing to protected rather than private modifier, polymorphism starts to kick in and we're back to something I would call "expected behavior"
There is no way to override a private method. Instead, the subclass is hiding it. That means that when the subclass is used polymorphically, the method is not considered one of the parent's existing methods. It's like a whole new method that's not available through polymorphism.
The private method is not part of the parent's class contract. Polymorphism only applies to methods that are part of the parent's contract. If it wasn't like that, you could cause a class to act differently than its contract, by changing implementation where the author wanted it to be private. If the author wanted you to do that, they would have used protected instead. In effect, a private method is like final.
In this particular main method, because it is defined in the actual parent's class, it is able to see a private method and therefore able to call it. If your main method has been in any other class and tried to call it, it would have failed.
A private method cannot be overrided, that alone explains what you see here. You are able to call the method in your main because the main is in the same class, otherwise it would not be possible.
You correctly analyzed what happens when changing private to protected : the method is now overridable and the "nearest" definition of it is executed when calling it on a subclass instance.
So I know that in Java when you have a static method you are supposed to call it with the format ClassName.method() rather than use the same structure as you would for instance methods, namely:
ClassName myObject = new ClassName();
myObject.method();
However, if you were to do it this way it would still be valid code and would work. Let's say I decide to do this where the method in question is static, and have the following setup:
public SuperClass {
public static int foo(int x) {
return x;
}
}
public SubClass extends SuperClass {
public static int foo(int x) { // Overriding foo() in SuperClass
return x + 1;
}
}
public MyDriver {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SuperClass myObject = new SubClass(); // Upcasting.
System.out.println(myObject.foo(5)); // This should polymorphically print 6
}
}
What prints out on the screen, however, is 5 rather than 6. Why?
Static methods apply only to the class they are defined in, and they cannot be overridden.
When you call myObject.foo(5), you are calling SuperClass.foo(5) in reality, because you declared myObject as a SuperClass, regardless of whether you instantiated it as one.
The proper way to call a static method is to call it directly from the class it is declared in, so if you wanted to call SubClass.foo(), you must call it from an explicitly declared SubClass instance (meaning no upcasting), or you need to call SubClass.foo() like so.
The simple answer is that calling static methods from instances evaluates to calling those same methods from the declared type with no instance rather than the instance type.
I am not certain of this, but I would not be surprised if when the code is compiled into byte-code, that the instance static method call would actually be compiled into a direct call to the declared type.
Edit: An upvote brought my attention back to this and I cleaned up the explanation to make it more clear and fix some negligible grammatical mistakes on my part. I hope this helps future readers.
Using instances of a class to call that class's static methods is something you should avoid, since it can cause confusion. If you need to call any method polymorphically, make it an instance method. You cannot polymorphically call a static method. The reason the SuperClass invocation is called is because that is the apparent class of myObject at compile-time. This effect can also be seen in the following scenario:
public void doSomething(SuperClass param) {
System.out.println("SuperClass");
}
public void doSomething(SubClass param) {
System.out.println("SubClass");
}
public void test() {
SuperClass myObject = new SubClass();
doSomething(myObject);
}
If test() is called, SuperClass will be printed.
Static methods don't depends on the instance, they belong to the class and only to the class, in fact if you have a static method you'll always access to one unique instance always.
myObject.foo(5)
is only a shortcut, what you really are doing is
SuperClass.foo(5)
Static methods are treated as global by the JVM, they are not bound to an object instance at all. By the way, you can only overload static methods, but you can not override. So check for "Oracle Documentation for Overriding and Hiding Documents".
Defining a Method with the Same Signature as a Superclass's Method:
-----------------------------------------Superclass Instance MethodSuperclass Static Method
Subclass Instance Method Overrides Generates a compile-time error
Subclass Static Method Generates a compile-time error Hides