Problem about protected attribute

[Moe Aptelia]

Hi !
I have the following code:

    
package package1;
public class Parent{
    protected int x;
}
 
package package2;
public class Child extends Parent{
   public void testIt()
   {
       System.out.println(x);
   }
}
 
package package1;
public class Test3{
   public void testIt()
   {
       Child c = new Child();
       System.out.println(c.x);
   }
} 
 
package package1;
public class Test4{
   public void testIt()
   {
       Parent p = new Parent();
       System.out.println(p.x);
   }
}
 

Normally, the class Test3 shouldn't compile because a protected attribute should become private when it is inherited ! But actualaly, it compiles with Java5.0.

Does anyone could explain me why ?

Thanks in advance !

[Harshit Rastogi]

hi
i tried running case 3 and 4 and it failed as expected.

[Moe Aptelia]

Test4 shouldn't fail...
Test4 and Parent are in the same package. So the protected attribute x in Parent is visible in all the package package1...

[anuj bhatnagar]

Superb example.
I'd like to add few things to this discussion.
If the Test3 class is packaged in a package other than package1 then you get the expected compiler error saying

  x has protected access in package1.Parent
               System.out.println(c.x);   

but when the same package is specified as of the parent class it compiles fine.