// reuse/FinalOverridingIllusion.java // (c)2016 MindView LLC: see Copyright.txt // We make no guarantees that this code is fit for any purpose. // Visit http://mindviewinc.com/Books/OnJava/ for more book information. // It only looks like you can override // a private or private final method class WithFinals { // Identical to "private" alone: private final void f() { System.out.println("WithFinals.f()"); } // Also automatically "final": private void g() { System.out.println("WithFinals.g()"); } } class OverridingPrivate extends WithFinals { private final void f() { System.out.println("OverridingPrivate.f()"); } private void g() { System.out.println("OverridingPrivate.g()"); } } class OverridingPrivate2 extends OverridingPrivate { public final void f() { System.out.println("OverridingPrivate2.f()"); } public void g() { System.out.println("OverridingPrivate2.g()"); } } public class FinalOverridingIllusion { public static void main(String[] args) { OverridingPrivate2 op2 = new OverridingPrivate2(); op2.f(); op2.g(); // You can upcast: OverridingPrivate op = op2; // But you can't call the methods: //- op.f(); //- op.g(); // Same here: WithFinals wf = op2; //- wf.f(); //- wf.g(); } } /* Output: OverridingPrivate2.f() OverridingPrivate2.g() */