The Java Language Specification, Third Edition

EXPRESSIONS Field Access Using a Primary 15.11.1
static String when(String name, Object t) {
return " when " + name + " holds a "
+ t.getClass() + " at run time.";
}
}
produces the output:
t.x=1 when t holds a class T at run time.
s.x=0 when s holds a class S at run time.
s.x=0 when s holds a class T at run time.
The last line shows that, indeed, the field that is accessed does not depend on the
run-time class of the referenced object; even if s holds a reference to an object of
class T, the expression s.x refers to the x field of class S, because the type of the
expression s is S. Objects of class T contain two fields named x, one for class T
and one for its superclass S.
This lack of dynamic lookup for field accesses allows programs to be run efficiently
with straightforward implementations. The power of late binding and overriding
is available, but only when instance methods are used. Consider the same
example using instance methods to access the fields:
class S { int x = 0; int z() { return x; } }
class T extends S { int x = 1; int z() { return x; } }
class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
T t = new T();
System.out.println("t.z()=" + t.z() + when("t", t));
S s = new S();
System.out.println("s.z()=" + s.z() + when("s", s));
s = t;
System.out.println("s.z()=" + s.z() + when("s", s));
}
static String when(String name, Object t) {
return " when " + name + " holds a "
+ t.getClass() + " at run time.";
}
}
Now the output is:
t.z()=1 when t holds a class T at run time.
s.z()=0 when s holds a class S at run time.
s.z()=1 when s holds a class T at run time.
The last line shows that, indeed, the method that is accessed does depend on the
run-time class of referenced object; when s holds a reference to an object of class
DRAFT
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