Question

if we have 2 class Zoo & Moo as follows:

public class zoo {
    String superString="super";
    private String coolMethod(){
        return "Zoo method";
    }
}

public class Moo extends zoo{
    public void useMyCoolMethod(){
        zoo z=new zoo();
        System.out.println(superString);//1
        System.out.println(z.superString);//2
    }
    public  static void main(String[]args){
        new Moo().useMyCoolMethod();
    }
}

at 1 & 2 we print the value of the String in the super class through inheritance and access, the question is , what is the benefit of Access although i can do the same thing by inheritance ? knowing that the Access approach isn’t allowed if the two classes is in diff packages

Answer 1

By accessing through the object ref you are modifying the referenced object’s state, by inheritance you are modifying the object you are currently in ( this reference ). So there is actually no benefit aside from encapsulation at class level and package level through out the access modifiers and that sort of thing, you just use it depending on the behavior you want for you’re code, or in this case, how restrictive to modify the state of objects depending on the context.

But aside from that, i’m not sure if there is anything else.