overriding main

[joshua antony]

public class StaticOverride {
 
public final static void main(String[] args)
{

}
}
 
class Another extends StaticOverride{
 
public static void main(String[] args)
{

}
}

Why am I getting compilation error in main method of Another. Any way static
methods cannot be overridden by default, so why compiler error?

[Naseem Khan]

Any way static methods cannot be overridden by default, so why compiler error?

Because the rule for overriding and redefining is same.

[Barry Gaunt]

You only get the error because you are using final on the base class static main() method.
By using final you are forbidding the subclass from hiding the static method.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

final classes cannot be extended

final methods cannot be overridden by a subclass

[Barry Gaunt]

Originally posted by Kameron McKenzie:
final classes cannot be extended

final methods cannot be overridden by a subclass

Yes, both are true, but what is the relevance to the current question?

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Sorry. Should have been more clear.

Final methods cannot be overridden. By overriding a final method defined in a parent class, you will see the following error:

"Cannot override the final method from StaticOverride"

Once a method has been declared as being final, a subclass cannot re-implement that method by coding a method with the same name and argument signature.

How could we fix the problem?

1) eliminate the keyword final from the main method in the parent class:

public class StaticOverride {

/*final keyword removed*/
public static void main(String[] args) {

}
}

class Another extends StaticOverride {
public static void main(String[] args) {

}
}

2) we could avoid using inheritance with the subclass, eliminating the parent/child relationship with the two classes.



public class StaticOverride {


public final static void main(String[] args) {

}
}

/*Another no longer extends StaticOverride*/
class Another {
public static void main(String[] args) {

}
}


Hope that's a more detailed answers.

Regards!

[Keith Lynn]

I think Barry's point is that the term overriding doesn't apply to the question because you are dealing with static methods.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Oh, I see what you're saying. I've got to stop looking inside that box.

I treated the symptom, but not necessarily the cause.

So, they symptom has gone away (the compile error), but I avoided the fundamental cause. Sometimes getting rid of symptoms is good too, though.

Good thing I'm a Java Hack, and not a medical practitioner.