Runtime and Compiletime

[John Paterson]

Hi folks...

Do have a look at the following code:

class Animal {
public void eat() {
System.out.println("Generic Animal Eating Generically");
}

}
class Horse extends Animal {
public void eat() {
System.out.println("Horse eating hay, oats, "
+ "and horse treats");
}
public void buck() { }
}

Animal a = new Animal();
Animal b = new Horse();
a.eat(); // Runs the Animal version of eat()
b.eat();

Is it true that at comple time it's checked if the 'eat' method exists in the Animal class and at runtime Java selects the actual version of the method that is to be run, which in this case for object ref b it would have to be the eat method of the 'Horse' class??

[Jaikiran Pai]

Please continue the discussion in your duplicate thread here http://www.coderanch.com/t/584125/java-programmer-SCJP/certification/run-time-compile-time