overriding of static method

[Naresh Saw]

hi all

here is my code.

class Super

public void m1(){
System.out.println("super m1");
}

public static void m2(){
System.out.println("super static m2");
}

}

public class Child {
public void m1(){
System.out.println("child m1");
}

public static void m2(){
System.out.println("child static m2");
}

public static void main(String arg[]){
Child t = new Child();
System.out.println((Super)t.m1()); // 1
System.out.println((Super)t.m2()); // 1
}
}


and the output is :

child m1
super static m2


why ?

anybody can explain overriding of static method.

[Srinivasa Raghavan]

A static method cannot be overriden it can only be hided. It doesnt involve in polymorphic behaviours since it belongs to a class and not to an instance.

[harish shankarnarayan]

hi srini,
ya static methods cannot be overridden.
i.e if we have static methoids in the super as well as the child class always the super class static method is executed,even if we call thru an instance of the child class .And they call this hiding ...
how ya??can u explain..
my question may be silly ,but if possible tel me wats hiding here

[Srinivasa Raghavan]

how ya??can u explain..

Harish Please take care to post in proper english , it's good to avoid SMS language like 'u' , 'r' etc

Now comming to your question, The static method in the subclass shadows the static method in the superclass. Static are figured out compile time and instance method are figured out at run time.

[Karu Raj]

Is it true that static method can override another override method only through inheritance?

or can static method overload another static method

[Srinivasa Raghavan]

if we have static methoids in the super as well as the child class always the super class static method is executed,even if we call thru an instance of the child class .

Harish,
First of all the code mentioned above wont compile as you are returning void from the method & using it in System.out.println(..)
See the static method in the super class wont execute always , Call the static method without type casting it to Sure Class.

[harish shankarnarayan]

Static are figured out compile time and instance method are figured out at run time.
thats wat canu explain this with an example
sorry shall not use SMS language frm now

[Srinivasa Raghavan]

thats wat canu explain this with an example
sorry shall not use SMS language frm now

Thats great but again you used it there


As i said in my previous reply ( sorry for the typo there ) Try to call the Static method withou type casting it to Super Class like t.m2() and now try to cast it and call the Static method.

[Arvind Giri]

Hi Harish,

Here is an example

  
class SuperClass {
public static void method1() {
System.out.println("static method1 of super class");
}
public void method2() {
System.out.println("method2 of super class");
}
}
 
class SubClass extends SuperClass {
public static void method1() {
System.out.println("static method1 of sub class");
}
public void method2() {
System.out.println("method2 of sub class");
 
}
}
 
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] arg) {
SuperClass spOb;
SubClass sbOb;
spOb = new SubClass();
spOb.method1();                  //compile time binding, depends on reference type
((SubClass)spOb).method1();      //compile time binding, depends on reference type
spOb.method2();                  //run time binding, depends on object type 
((SubClass)spOb).method2();      //run time binding, depends on object type
}
}

Output :

static method1 of super class
static method1 of sub class
method2 of sub class
method2 of sub class

Hope this helps you

[Karu Raj]

The code given by in Naresh Saw beggining is not complining in JDK1.4
Got the error message as
---------- Javac ----------
test1.java:28: inconvertible types
found : void
required: Super
System.out.println((Super)t.m1()); // 1
^
test1.java:29: inconvertible types
found : void
required: Super
System.out.println((Super)t.m2()); // 1
^
2 errors
-------------------------------------------------------

Please explain me clearly about this .

ALso tell me whether static method can be overloaded or not

[Barry Gaunt]

m1() and m2() are declared as void. That is they have no return type. So the cast to Super cannot be applied.

[sampath garapati]

Thank You Arvind.

given a good piece of code to understand the static overridden methods.

Sampath

[A Kumar]

Hi,

Regarding karthiks post,

Please explain me clearly about this .

ALso tell me whether static method can be overloaded or not

Yes you can overload static methods just like any methods..

Consider...methods in Math class..

Math.abs(float f)
Math.abs(long l)
Math.abs(int i)

Regards
[ September 28, 2005: Message edited by: A Kumar ]