The Java Language Specification, Third Edition

EXPRESSIONS Runtime Evaluation of Method Invocation 15.12.4
expression is not assignment compatible with T[], then the argument list (e1, ... ,
en-1, en, ...ek) is evaluated as if it were written as (e1, ..., en-1, new T[]{en, ..., ek}). The argument expressions (possibly rewritten as described above) are now
evaluated to yield argument values. Each argument value corresponds to exactly
one of the method’s n formal parameters.
The argument expressions, if any, are evaluated in order, from left to right. If
the evaluation of any argument expression completes abruptly, then no part of any
argument expression to its right appears to have been evaluated, and the method
invocation completes abruptly for the same reason.The result of evaluating the jth
argument expression is the jth argument value, for 1 ≤ j≤n. Evaluation then continues,
using the argument values, as described below.
15.12.4.3 Check Accessibility of Type and Method
Let C be the class containing the method invocation, and let T be the qualifying
type of the method invocation (§13.1), and m be the name of the method, as determined
at compile time (§15.12.3). An implementation of the Java programming
language must insure, as part of linkage, that the method m still exists in the type
T. If this is not true, then a NoSuchMethodError (which is a subclass of IncompatibleClassChangeError)
occurs. If the invocation mode is interface, then
the implementation must also check that the target reference type still implements
the specified interface. If the target reference type does not still implement the
interface, then an IncompatibleClassChangeError occurs.
The implementation must also insure, during linkage, that the type T and the
method m are accessible. For the type T:
• If T is in the same package as C, then T is accessible.
• If T is in a different package than C, and T is public, then T is accessible.
• If T is in a different package than C, and T is protected, then T is accessible
if and only if C is a subclass of T.
DRAFT
For the method m:
• If m is public, then m is accessible. (All members of interfaces are public
(§9.2)).
• If m is protected, then m is accessible if and only if either T is in the same
package as C, or C is T or a subclass of T.
• If m has default (package) access, then m is accessible if and only if T is in the
same package as C.
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