Question

I have a static method defined in a base class, I want to override this method in its child class, is it possible?

I tried this but it did not work as I expected. When I created an instance of class B and invoke its callMe() method, the static foo() method in class A is invoked.

public abstract class A {
  public static void foo() {
    System.out.println("I am base class");
  }

  public void callMe() {
    foo();
  }
}

Public class B {
  public static void foo() {
      System.out.println("I am child class");
  }
}

Answer 1

Static method calls are resolved on compile time (no dynamic dispatch).

class main {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
            A a = new B();
            B b = new B();
            a.foo();
            b.foo();
            a.callMe();
            b.callMe();
    }
}
abstract class A {
    public static void foo() {
        System.out.println("I am superclass");
    }

    public void callMe() {
        foo(); //no late binding here; always calls A.foo()
    }
}

class B extends A {
    public static void foo() {
        System.out.println("I am subclass");
    }
}

gives

I am superclass
I am subclass
I am superclass
I am superclass