Is there a way to override class variables in Java?

Question

class Dad
{
    protected static String me = \"dad\";

    public void printMe()
    {
        System.out.println(me);
    }
}

class Son extends Dad
{
    protected         


        

Answer 1

You can create a getter and then override that getter. It's particularly useful if the variable you are overriding is a sub-class of itself. Imagine your super class has an Object member but in your sub-class this is now more defined to be an Integer.

class Dad
{
        private static final String me = "dad";

        protected String getMe() {
            return me;
        }

        public void printMe()
        {
                System.out.println(getMe());
        }
}

class Son extends Dad
{
        private static final String me = "son";

        @Override
        protected String getMe() {
            return me;
        }
}

public void doIt()
{
        new Son().printMe(); //Prints "son"
}