CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javakeywordsuperextends
WildBamaBoy
WildBamaBoy

Reputation: 2783

Java - using the 'super' keyword

Simple question. I made a class called Tester1 which extends another called Tester2. Tester2 contains a public string called 'ABC'.

Here is Tester1:

public class Tester1 extends Tester2
{
    public Tester1()
    {
         ABC = "Hello";
    }
}

If I instead change line 5 to

super.ABC = "Hello";

am I still doing the exact same thing?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 5311

Answers (4)

hoipolloi
hoipolloi

Reputation: 8044

Yes, the super qualifier is unnecessary but works the same. To clarify:

public static class Fruit {

    protected String color;
    protected static int count;
}

public static class Apple extends Fruit {

    public Apple() {
        color = "red";
        super.color = "red"; // Works the same
        count++;
        super.count++; // Works the same
    }
}

Upvotes: 2

Scott
Scott

Reputation: 2233

You are. Given that ABC is visible to Tester1 (the child class), it is assumed to be declared anything but private and that is why it is visible to a sub-class. In this case, using super.ABC is simply reinforcing the fact that the variable is defined in the parent.

If, on the other hand, ABC had been marked private in the parent class, there would be no way of accessing that variable from a child class - even if super is used (without using some fancy reflection, of course).

Another thing to note, is that if the variable had been defined private in the parent class, you could define a variable with the exact same name in the child class. But again, super would not grant you access to the parent variable.

Upvotes: 1

Jon Skeet
Jon Skeet

Reputation: 1503459

Yes. There's only one ABC variable within your object. But please don't make fields public in the first place. Fields should pretty much always be private.

If you declared a variable ABC within Tester1 as well, then there'd be a difference - the field in Tester1 would hide the field in Tester2, but using super you'd still be referring to the field within Tester2. But don't do that, either - hiding variables is a really quick way to make code unmaintainable.

Sample code:

// Please don't write code like this. It's horrible.
class Super {
   public int x;
}

class Sub extends Super {
    public int x;

    public Sub() {
        x = 10;
        super.x = 5;
    }

}

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Sub sub = new Sub();
        Super sup = sub;
        System.out.println(sub.x); // Prints 10
        System.out.println(sup.x); // Prints 5
    }
}

Upvotes: 8

Globmont
Globmont

Reputation: 901

Well first thing is that the variable ABC must be declared in the class Tester2. If it is then yes you are.

Upvotes: 1

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