Why is a field with no modifier visible in a subclass?

Question

My super class:

public class SuperClass {

String s = "superString";

    public void method(){
       System.out.println("Super");
    }
 }

My sub class:

public class Test extends SuperClass{

public static void main(String args[]){
    Test t = new Test();
    System.out.println(t.s);
  }
}

I get no error message from eclipse, the program prints out: superString...

But it shouldn't as no modifier fields are only visible in the class and the package but not in sub classes, or what have I misunderstood? Thanks

ok, the answers are correct, I thought the statement is stronger that it is not visible in subclasses — user3435407, Mar 12 '15 at 02:18
but i think it is not a duplicate, I knew that page... I just actually never thought about it cause i generally use either private or public — user3435407, Mar 12 '15 at 02:21
The relation between the default visibility and the other access levels is clearly depicted in [this chart](http://stackoverflow.com/a/33627846/276052). Hope that helps! :) — aioobe, Jun 10 '16 at 17:50

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 12 '15 at 02:13

4

Having no modifier means that the scope of the field or method is "package only".

So your subclass must be in the same package as the superclass, for it to have access to the field in the superclass that has no modifier.

answered Mar 12 '15 at 02:13

Erwin Bolwidt

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score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 12 '15 at 02:13

When no modifier is present then default access is applied, think of default access as package access, a class with default access can be seen only by classes within the same package

Your class Test must be in the same package as your SuperClass that's why it's visible.

source: http://www.datadisk.co.uk/html_docs/java/access_control.htm

Why is a field with no modifier visible in a subclass?

2 Answers2