accessing non-static from static context error

[MaheshS Kumbhar]

I have following code snippet in that subclass.java throws an error message that non-static getNumber() method cannot be referenced from static context.

package protected1;
public class superclass
{
static private int number=1;
protected int getNumber()
{
return number;
}
}

package protected2;
import protected1.superclass;

public class subclass extends superclass
{
static int a = getNumber();
public static void main(String[]s)
{
System.out.println(a);
}
}

Whats wrong in subclass.java code, I am not accessing getNumber() method from within main method which is static? Can anybody please let me know?

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

The initialization of static members like "a" happens in a static method named "<clinit>", specially created by the compiler to hold such code. So you are, indeed, calling getNumber() from a static method.

Most likely your real code is more complex, but in this case, since all getNumber() does is provide access to a static member, why can't it be static?