Question

i just wanted to know how to get the implementation of a superclass using a subclass, for example.

class Animal {
    void poo() {
        System.out.println("general poo");
    }
}

class Horse extends Animal{
    void poo() {
        System.out.println("horse poo");
    }
}

Animal animal1 = new Horse(); 
// using this I get the implementation of the Horse class's methods
animal1.poo(); //should return horse poo

tried to upcast it to get the super class implementation but to no avail

((Animal)animal1).poo() // still returns the horse class's implementation of the method

How do I get the superclass implementation using the animal1 object?

Answer 1

In Java, you should not override a superclass method unless the new method is intended to be a total replacement for all external calls to the method.

Within the sublcass implementation, you can use e.g. super.toString() to reference the immediate superclass method.