About Question enthuware.ocajp.i.v7.2.970 :

[ETS User]

I don't understand how 8 will be printed. Since the object is of type SportsCar, the variable c.gearRatio will refer to the member field gearRatio of SportsCar.

[admin]

This is because unlike instance methods, instance fields are shadowed and not overridden. Section 3.4.5 of the following document should be helpful: http://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/java-ent/jnut/ch03_04.htm

HTH,
Paul.

[Guest]

Can you explain why when I copy and paste the code into eclipse and run the program why I get "9 Accelerate : SportsCar" ?

I was under the impression (from other learning material) that it should only print 8 if gearRatio was declared as a static member i.e. public static int gearRatio = 8, otherwise it should use the instance member.

[admin]

Can you please paste the exact code that you ran so that I can see what's going on?

BTW, Using an IDE sometimes clouds the things. So we recommend using notepad and command line while preparing for this exam.
-Paul.

[pcoady]

I got, 8 Accelerate : SportsCar when c was declared as Car c = new SportsCar();
but when I changed declaration to SportsCar c = new SportsCar(); I got 9 Accelerate : SportsCar
Is this because the fields accessed depends on the reference type?

[admin]

I got, 8 Accelerate : SportsCar when c was declared as Car c = new SportsCar();
but when I changed declaration to SportsCar c = new SportsCar(); I got 9 Accelerate : SportsCar
Is this because the fields accessed depends on the reference type?

Yes! Fields are shadowed and methods are overridden.

[baichen7788]

what do you mean by "hidden" ?

[admin]

In what context? Where do you see hidden mentioned in this thread??