getInstacne() for an abstract class

[Grishma Dube]

Hi,
I have a very basic question. We cannot create instance of an abstract class.
e.g. Calendar class of util pkg is ab abstract class. so if we try to create an instace of this using new operator, it gives error.
However, we can call getInstance() method to get an instance of Calendar class. Can anyone explain me, what exactly happens when we call getInstance() method??
TIA
Grishma

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

The default is to create a new GregorianCalendar (which is not abstract).

[Dirk Schreckmann]

Note that GregorianCalendar is a subclass of Calendar. This is an example of Polymorphism in the Java 2 Standard Edition API. Another example can be found with the public void paint(Graphics g) method that many windowing components have.