Private and final methods in Java

When we use final specifier with a method, the method cannot be overridden in any of the inheriting classes. Methods are made final due to design reasons.
Since private methods are inaccessible, they are implicitly final in Java. So adding final specifier to a private method doesn’t add any value. It may in-fact cause unnecessary confusion.

class Base { 
  
   private final void foo() {} 
  
   // The above method foo() is same as following. The keyword  
   // final is redundant in above declaration. 
  
   // private void foo() {} 
} 

For example, both ‘program 1’ and ‘program 2’ below produce same compiler error “foo() has private access in Base”.

Program 1

// file name: Main.java 
class Base { 
    private final void foo() {} 
} 
   
class Derived extends Base { 
    public void foo() {}  
} 
   
public class Main { 
    public static void main(String args[]) { 
        Base b = new Derived(); 
        b.foo(); 
    } 
} 

Program 2

// file name: Main.java 
class Base { 
    private void foo() {} 
} 
   
class Derived extends Base { 
    public void foo() {}  
} 
   
public class Main { 
    public static void main(String args[]) { 
        Base b = new Derived(); 
        b.foo(); 
    } 
} 

Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.

Attention reader! Don’t stop learning now. Get hold of all the important Java and Collections concepts with the Fundamentals of Java and Java Collections Course at a student-friendly price and become industry ready.

My Personal Notes

Sep	OCT	Nov
	31
2019	2020	2021

Recommended Posts: