compiler some times does NOT report all errors

[Barkat Mardhani]

 import java.io.*;
class Super {
Super() throws Exception { }
void aMethod() throws Exception { }
}
class Sub extends Super {
Sub() { } // line 1
}
class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Super s = new Super(); // line 2
s.aMethod(); // line 3
}
}

The compiler (1.4) gives error at line 1 only. Line 2 & 3 are ignored. However, if you resolve line 1 error, 2 & 3 are reported. Any reasons for that behavoir?
Thanks
Barkat

[Sugata B.]

B'coz Java is an interpreted language.

[Jim Yingst]

If there's more than one error possible, the compiler isn't required to report them all. Compilaion is a multi-pass process, and generally the compiler will report all errors it finds in a given pass, but then it will stop. So it tends to find all errors of a given general "type", but ignore the more complex stuff it hasn't gotten around to understanding yet. Which things it reports and which it does not is a complex thing to determine, but it's not one you need to worry about for SCJP. If the compiler could report a given error (assuming no other errors cause compilation to complete prematurely), that's all you really need to know.