Inheriting private stuff from a Superclass ... let's settle this once and for all!

[Joza]

I'm sure this has been asked a million time, but everywhere I look, people seem to over-complicate the answer ... so I'm STILL confused.

Do subclasses inherit the private fields of the superclass? That is, if the super class has a private variable called A, does the subclass get its OWN COPY of that variable called A, which is NOT the same variable, just has the same name?

Or, are private fields just not inherited AT ALL? If I want a private variable in my subclass just like in the superclass, I must explicitly define it in the subclass code?

[Lowest0ne]

The sub-class "is a" super-class, there is only one variable "A" per instance.

[Joza]

The sub-class "is a" super-class, there is only one variable "A" per instance.

Sorry, but that's not answering my question at all...

[Lowest0ne]

Or, are private fields just not inherited AT ALL? If I want a private variable in my subclass just like in the superclass, I must explicitly define it in the subclass code?

This would make the super class useless.

Do subclasses inherit the private fields of the superclass? That is, if the super class has a private variable called A, does the subclass get its OWN COPY of that variable called A, which is NOT the same variable, just has the same name?

The sub class extends the super class, there is no "OWN COPY", there is only one instance.

Edit: or perhaps post some code to explain what confuses you.

[Fubarable]

Have a look at the accepted answer to this question: java - Does subclasses inherit private fields? - Stack Overflow