Can we override the static method in Java?

Can we override the static method in Java?

No, you cannot override static method in Java because method overriding is based upon dynamic binding at runtime and static methods are bonded using static binding at compile time. Though you can declare a method with the same name and method signature in the subclass which does look like you can override static method in Java in reality that is method hiding. Java won't resolve method call at runtime and depending upon the type of Object which is used to call the static method, the corresponding method will be called. It means if you use Parent class's type to call a static method, original static will be called from a patent class, on the other hand, if you use Child class's type to call a static method, a method from child class will be called. In short, you cannot override static method in Java. If you use Java IDE like Eclipse or Net beans, they will show a warning that static method should be called using the class name and not by using object because of the static method cannot be overridden in Java.

class BaseClass {

public static void show() {

System.out.printf("Static method from Parent Class");

}

}

class SubClass extends BaseClass {

public static void show() {

System.err.println("Overridden Static method in Child Class in Java");

}

}

public class CanWeOverrideStaticMethod {

public static void main(String args[]) {

BaseClass baseClass = new SubClass();

baseClass.show();

}

}

OUTPUT: Static method from Parent Class

Following are some important points for method overriding and static methods in Java.

1) For class (or static) methods, the method according to the type of reference is called, not according to the abject being referred, which means method call is decided at compile time.

2) For instance (or non-static) methods, the method is called according to the type of object being referred, not according to the type of reference, which means method calls is decided at run time.

3) An instance method cannot override a static method, and a static method cannot hide an instance method. For example, the following program has two compiler errors.

4) In a subclass (or Derived Class), we can overload the methods inherited from the superclass. Such overloaded methods neither hide nor override the superclass methods — they are new methods, unique to the subclass.

class Screen {

public static void show() {

System.out.printf("Static method from parent class");

}

}

class ColorScreen extends Screen {

public static void show() {

System.out.println("Overridden static method in Child Class in Java");

}

}

public class CanWeOverrideStaticMethod {

public static void main(String args[]) {

Screen scrn = new ColorScreen();

ColorScreen colorScreen = (ColorScreen) scrn;

colorScreen.show();

}

}

Output: Overridden static method in Child Class in Java

Share: