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Java

Posted by Matthew Francis
Matthew Francis
6,967 Points

Why must @Override have a "public" access modifier?

Tried reading from:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9330001/change-the-access-modifier-of-an-overridden-method-in-java

I couldn;t fully grasp what they are, but I think I get the idea. Could someone dumb it down for me?

1 Answer

Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,416 Points

By using the @Override annotation you are telling the compiler you are overriding the matching method a parent class. This means if the parent's method is public, the subclass's method must also be public. This is because the new overridden method will always be called whenever it is used from an object of the subclass, even if upcast to the the parent class. (i.e. you can't hide a method the parent class is expected to expose for use) You do have some leeway with the access modifier to make it more permissive (like changing from protected in the parent to public in the child)