static

[Raj Neets]

Can some please tell me whether
A static variable be inherited or not in the subclass
Thanx you
Raj

[Sirish Kumar]

Hi Raj,
As per my understanding any member (field or method) is inherited unless it is
1.private in the superclass
2.hidden in the subclass OR
3.overridden in the subclass.
Since fields can only be hidden, the static field is inherited if it has not been declared as private in the superclass and also not hidden by another field with the same name in the subclass
Eg:
class Base
{
private static int i; \\not inherited since it is private
public static int j; \\inherited since it is not private
public static int k; \\not inherited since it has been hidden
}
class Derived extends Base
{
public static int k; \\hides the field with the same name in the superclass
}
Hope that helps.

[Gian Franco]

Hi Ray,
Static variables will be inherited unless
they have a private access modifier.
Maybe the following example can help a little:

public class CheckStatic {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("PapaStatic.a with no instance " + PapaStatic.a);
System.out.println("KidStatic.a with no instance " + KidStatic.a);
KidStatic theKid = new KidStatic();
System.out.println("KidStatic.a from main() " + theKid.a);
}
}
class PapaStatic {
static String a = "the inheritance";
PapaStatic() {
System.out.println("PapaStatic constructor");
System.out.println("PapaStatic.a = " + this.a);
}
}
class KidStatic extends PapaStatic {
KidStatic() {
System.out.println("KidStatic constructor");
System.out.println("KidStatic.a = " + this.a);
System.out.println("PapaStatic.a = " + super.a);
}
}

As you can see you don't even have to have an instance of
the KidStatic in order to access the static variable.
Greetings,
Gian Franco
[ January 29, 2004: Message edited by: Gian Franco Casula ]