Question

Why does the below code print “Main”?

public class Main
{
    public static void method()
    {
        System.out.println("Main");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Main m = new SubMain();
        m.method();
    }
}

class SubMain extends Main
{
    public static void method()
    {
        System.out.println("SubMain");
    }
}

At runtime, m is pointing to an instance of Submain, so it should conceptually print “SubMain”.

Answer 1

Static methods are resolved on the compile-time type of the variable. m is of type Main, so the method in Main is called.

If you change it to SubMain m ..., then the method on SubMain will be called.