Home/ Questions/Q 6950191
In Process

The Archive Base Latest Questions

Editorial Team
  • 0
Asked: 2026-05-27T14:03:43+00:00

I am reading the book The Java Programming Language . In the chapter which

  • 0

I am reading the book The Java Programming Language. In the chapter which explains overriding method, it says:

Making an override method (in subclass) less accessible than it was in super class would violate the contract of the superclass …

The text as a whole is understandable. My only question is what is contract of the superclass? What does the contract mean for a Java class?

Share

Leave an answer

You must login to add an answer.

Need An Account,

1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    A contract in in a Java class is similar to a contract in the real world – In non-technical terms:

    It’s an agreement that the class will expose certain methods, certain properties, and certain behaviors.

    More technical, from here: (bold added by me)

    Wouldn’t it be nice if all Java classes that you use, including your
    own, lived up to their promises? In fact, wouldn’t it be nice if you
    actually knew exactly what a given class promises? If you agree, read
    on […]

    Design by Contract

    The Design by Contract (DBC) software development technique ensures
    high-quality software by guaranteeing that every component of a system
    lives up to its expectations. As a developer using DBC, you specify
    component contracts as part of the component’s interface. The contract
    specifies what that component expects of clients and what clients can
    expect of it.

    • 0