why, if one method is declared as abstract, the same cannot be declared as static ?

[naved momin]

why, if one method is declared as abstract cannot be declared as static ?
i m talking about interface in which methods are implicitly abstract and that method cannot have static modifier ? why so ?

[Matthew Brown]

Marking a method abstract means that you will override it in a sub-class and provide the implementation. A static method cannot be overridden, so it would be impossible to provide the implementation of a static abstract method. So it makes no sense to allow it.

[naved momin]

Matthew Brown wrote:Marking a method abstract means that you will override it in a sub-class and provide the implementation. A static method cannot be overridden, so it would be impossible to provide the implementation of a static abstract method. So it makes no sense to allow it.

static method cannot be overriden because those methods are for that particular class ?

[Seetharaman Venkatasamy]

naved momin wrote:static method cannot be overriden because those methods are for that particular class ?

Please, SearchFirst

[Dennis Deems]

naved momin wrote:

Matthew Brown wrote:Marking a method abstract means that you will override it in a sub-class and provide the implementation. A static method cannot be overridden, so it would be impossible to provide the implementation of a static abstract method. So it makes no sense to allow it.

static method cannot be overriden because those methods are for that particular class ?

Static members are shared among all instances of a class -- one might say, independently of its instances.

[Jeff Verdegan]

naved momin wrote:

Matthew Brown wrote:Marking a method abstract means that you will override it in a sub-class and provide the implementation. A static method cannot be overridden, so it would be impossible to provide the implementation of a static abstract method. So it makes no sense to allow it.

static method cannot be overriden because those methods are for that particular class ?

They cannot be overridden because the language designers decided to make it that way. In some languages (like SmallTalk, I think), static methods can be overridden. Java's designers had a different model in mind for class, objects, and polymorphism. It was a language design choice. If you want to know why that choice was made, you'd have to ask them, or see if it shows up in a whitepaper somewhere. A good guess, though, would be that it keeps the language simpler. Simplicity has always been one of Java's key goals.