overriding

[Priya Rajan]

Friends,
static methods may not be overridden. true or false?
Complete Java Certification Guide by Roberts & heller says true in its mock exam provided in the CD.
class zzz{
static void print(){
System.out.println("hello");
}

}
class yyy extends zzz{
static zzz old=new zzz();
static void print(){
old.print();
System.out.println("world");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
print();
}
}
The output prints hello followed by world. So I feel the answer is false in the question.

Thanks.

[Desai Sandeep]

Static methods cannot be overriden.The reason you see "Hello" is because static methods are inherited in the subclass.
Hope this helps,
Sandeep
SCJP2, OCSD(Oracle JDeveloper), OCED(Oracle Internet Platform)

[Priya Rajan]

Sandeep,
can u explain me more clearly. I could not understand.I am calling the super class static method inside subclass overridden method.
I read in a Cerification Guide by Robert Heller that
static methods may not be overridden by non-static. (it implies static methods may be overridden by static methods)
Thanks

[tvs sundaram]

I would like to give some of Jane Cristi, bartender's explanations (of course in some other thread of this forum) here
----------------------------------------
Hiding has to do with Class to Class access to members. If a member would have been inherited or accessible from a subclass, but that subclass declares a member with the same name (and in the case of methods, the same signature), the access to the superclass in interferred with, it is called hidden. As such overriding is a form of hiding.
Shadowing has to do with scope within a class. If a variable is declared as a member variable and then the SAME name is used in a local scope, the local variable shadows the member variable within that scope (like inside a method).

Obscuring has to do with namespaces. If the same name is used for a variable and for a class which is then used as the TYPE for a variable and for a package it becomes unclear which is intended when using that name. The rules are that in such obscure situations the system will make the presumption in the following order: variable->type->package.
--------------------------
Static methods are resolved at compile time and DO NOT participate in polymorphism (things like overriding). Only things resolved at runtime can do overriding.
If a super class and a sub class both have a static method with the same signature, they are both available to you at class load time (even before you make any instances of the classes).
SuperName.staticMethod();
SubName.staticMethod();
--------------
static methods are resolved at compile time, and do not therefore participate in polymorphism. Non-static methods, on the other hand, DO participate in polymorphism (through what is called late-binding.)

HTH

[Priya Rajan]

Thank u tvs. I have exam tomorrow. ur reply is very useful.

Originally posted by tvs sundaram:
I would like to give some of Jane Cristi, bartender's explanations (of course in some other thread of this forum) here

[Ragu Sivaraman]

Very good explanation from Jane.
To keep it simple : Static are compile time associated. Polymorphism are run-time associated.
So if we do try to create 2 static methods of same signature,
its nuthing but Having two methods of same signature... thats all