Question

Is it possible in Java to invoke an overridable method in such a way that it always executes the “locally defined” version rather than an overridden version from a subclass? I.e. is there an analog to super that refers to this class, rather than the super class?

Let me give a code example to hopefully make it clear what I’m trying to do:

class A {
    void foo() {
        System.out.println("Foo from A");
    }

    void bar() {
        foo();  // <-- This is the important line!
    }
}

class B extends A {
    @Override
    void foo() {
        System.out.println("Foo from B");
    }
}

If I do new B().bar(), it will call the bar() method defined in A, which calls foo() as overridden in B to print “Foo from B”.

Is there a way that I can force the bar() method to call the foo() method as defined in A rather than B? Just like I can use super.foo() in B to call the foo() method as defined in A? Unfortunately using this.foo() still calls the version of the subclass. Even something like ((A) this).foo() or A.this.foo() doesn’t work.

Clearly, I could simply define a private or final version of foo() in A and call that instead. But I am hoping for a solution, where all I do is change the “important line” in the code sample above to a different way of invoking foo() to have it print “Foo from A”, preferably without some trick like reflection.

Answer 1

Either make your methods static (baadddddd), either change your design.

Indeed, it makes no sense to provide the default behavior for a subclass that it is defined to adapt itself to the concerned method.

As your foo() method seems to vary, you may implement a Strategy Pattern like this:

interface BarProcess{
    void foo();
}

public class DefaultBarProcess implements BarProcess{
    void foo() {
       System.out.println("Foo from A");
    }
}

public class AnotherBarProcess implements BarProcess{
    void foo() {
       System.out.println("Foo from B");
    }
}

class A {

    private BarProcess barProcess;

    public A(Bar barProcess){
      this.barProcess = barProcess;
    }

    void bar() {
        barProcess.foo();
    }
}

class B extends A {  //deprecated! No need to exist

}