Polymorphism Problem

[Shilpa Bhargava]

Hi,
This is a code from Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java
public class PrivateOverride {
private void f() {
System.out.println("private f()");
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
PrivateOverride po = new Derived();
po.f();
}
}
class Derived extends PrivateOverride {
public void f() {
System.out.println("public f()");
}
}
2 question on this...
1.Can u create an object of child class in the parent class itself
2.Why is the o/p "private f()" even though po is an object of type Derived.
Please help !!

[Thomas Paul]

1) yes
2) because private methods are inlined at compile time and therefore do not participate in polymorphism

[Shilpa Bhargava]

Thanks a lot Thomas ! I got it !

[Jayadev Pulaparty]

Can we look at it other way saying that "private methods of base class are not available (not seen) in the derived class in order to be overridden??
Please clarify

[Thomas Paul]

Yes.

[Anthony Villanueva]

A private method can't be overriden nohow.

8.4.6.1 Overriding (by Instance Methods)
An instance method m1 declared in a class C overrides another method with the same signature, m2, declared in class A if both
1. C is a subclass of A.
2. Either m2 is non-private and accessible from C, or m1 overrides a method m3, m3 distinct from m1, m3 distinct from m2, such that m3 overrides m2.