Can inner classes be overridden?
What happens when you create an inner class, then inherit from the enclosing class and redefine the inner class? That is, is it possible to override the entire inner class? This seems like it would be a powerful concept, but “overriding” an inner class as if it were another method of the outer class doesn’t really do anything:
//: c08:BigEgg.java
// An inner class cannot be overriden like a method.
import com.bruceeckel.simpletest.*;
class Egg {
private Yolk y;
protected class Yolk {
public Yolk() { System.out.println("Egg.Yolk()"); }
}
public Egg() {
System.out.println("New Egg()");
y = new Yolk();
}
}
public class BigEgg extends Egg {
private static Test monitor = new Test();
public class Yolk {
public Yolk() { System.out.println("BigEgg.Yolk()"); }
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new BigEgg();
monitor.expect(new String[] {
"New Egg()",
"Egg.Yolk()"
});
}
} ///:~
The default constructor is synthesized automatically by the compiler, and this calls the base-class default constructor. You might think that since a BigEgg is being created, the “overridden” version of Yolk would be used, but this is not the case, as you can see from the output.
This example shows that there isn’t any extra inner class magic going on when you inherit from the outer class. The two inner classes are completely separate entities, each in their own namespace. However, it’s still possible to explicitly inherit from the inner class:
//: c08:BigEgg2.java
// Proper inheritance of an inner class.
import com.bruceeckel.simpletest.*;
class Egg2 {
protected class Yolk {
public Yolk() { System.out.println("Egg2.Yolk()"); }
public void f() { System.out.println("Egg2.Yolk.f()");}
}
private Yolk y = new Yolk();
public Egg2() { System.out.println("New Egg2()"); }
public void insertYolk(Yolk yy) { y = yy; }
public void g() { y.f(); }
}
public class BigEgg2 extends Egg2 {
private static Test monitor = new Test();
public class Yolk extends Egg2.Yolk {
public Yolk() { System.out.println("BigEgg2.Yolk()"); }
public void f() {
System.out.println("BigEgg2.Yolk.f()");
}
}
public BigEgg2() { insertYolk(new Yolk()); }
public static void main(String[] args) {
Egg2 e2 = new BigEgg2();
e2.g();
monitor.expect(new String[] {
"Egg2.Yolk()",
"New Egg2()",
"Egg2.Yolk()",
"BigEgg2.Yolk()",
"BigEgg2.Yolk.f()"
});
}
} ///:~
Now BigEgg2.Yolk explicitly extends Egg2.Yolk and overrides its methods. The method insertYolk( ) allows BigEgg2 to upcast one of its own Yolk objects into the y reference in Egg2, so when g( ) calls y.f( ), the overridden version of f( ) is used. The second call to Egg2.Yolk( ) is the base-class constructor call of the BigEgg2.Yolk constructor. You can see that the overridden version of f( ) is used when g( ) is called.
