Static methods and their overriding

Question

Java doesn\'t allow overriding of static methods but,

class stat13
{
    static void show()
    {
        System.out.println(\"Static in base\");
    }
    p         


        

Answer 1

No, you're not overriding anything - you're just hiding the original method.

It's unfortunate that Java allows you to call a static method via a reference. Your call it more simply written as:

next.show();

Importantly, this code would still call the original version in stat13:

public static void showStat(stat13 x)
{
    x.show();
}
...
showStat(new next());

In other words, the binding to the right method is done at compile-time, and has nothing to do with the value of x - which it would normally with overriding.