A question on Inheritance and fields

[fatabass]

Hi people. Here's a question on Inheritance:

I have a Human Class:

public class Human 
{
	private String name;
	
	public String getName() 
	{
		return name;
	}

	public void setName(String name) 
	{
		this.name = name;
	}
}

and I have my Student class which extends the Human class:

public class Student extends Human 
{
	private String name;
	
	public void setName(String a) 
	{
		this.name=a+a;
	}
}

and my Test Class:

public class Test 
{
	public static void main(String[] args) 
	{
		Student student1 = new Student();
		student1.setName("John");
		System.out.println(student1.getName());
	}
}

I am expecting that student1 gets the name: JohnJohn. However here is the concole output: null.

Can anyone explain please?

Thank you.

[fatabass]

Answering my own question:

If I override the getName() method, I get JohnJohn...

Thanks.

[2by4]

Answering my own question:

If I override the getName() method, I get JohnJohn...

Thanks.

You should make name protected (or default) in Human and remove it in Student. Then you don't have to override getName().

You shouldn't normally repeat fields from the superclass in subclasses. The subclass automatically inherits fields of the superclass.

[Fubarable]

...The subclass automatically inherits fields of the superclass.

Agree ... except for the private fields -- which still may be accessible via accessor and mutator methods though.

[2by4]

Agree ... except for the private fields -- which still may be accessible via accessor and mutator methods though.

Important point, although I would say they are inherited but the compiler limits their access.

Reflection for example can get at them.