Re: why not compile error on "incompatible interface cast"?

From:
gg9h0st <g9h0st@gmail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.java.programmer
Date:
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:07:55 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID:
<ccd72844-9663-4ac2-a662-53d8ab74c4f0@v39g2000pro.googlegroups.com>
On 7=BF=F927=C0=CF, =BF=C0=C0=FC9=BD=C303=BA=D0, Lew <com.lewscanon@lew> wr=
ote:

gg9h0st wrote:

class IncompInterfaceTest {
    void doTest() {
        ClassB b = new ClassB();
        InterfaceA a = (InterfaceA)b;
    }
}

interface InterfaceA{}
class ClassB{}
javac issues "ClassCastException" on runtime rather than compile
error.

as i [sic] know incompatible type casting may be caught at runtime and
compiler shows the error.

Patricia Shanahan wrote:

In general, given a non-final class and an interface, the compiler has
to allow for the possibility that the class has a subclass that
implements the interface.


 From the JLS section 5.5:

The detailed rules for compile-time legality of a casting conversion of=

 a

value of compile-time reference type S to a compile-time reference type=

 T

are as follows:

...

If S is a class type:

...

* If T is an interface type:
  o If S is not a final class (=A1=D78.1.1), then, if there exists a su=

pertype X of

T, and a supertype Y of S, such that both X and Y are provably distinct
parameterized types, and that the erasures of X and Y are the same, a
compile-time error occurs. Otherwise, the cast is always legal at compi=

le time

(because even if S does not implement T, a subclass of S might).


Take S as ClassB and T as InterfaceA.

--
Lew


ooooooooowwwww~~ I still don't get it :S
that "a subclass of S might" part.

so compiler doesn't know what variable 'b' hold? that is oviously
ClassB.

if where ClassC extends ClassB implements InterfaceA

b = new ClassC();
means b hold ClassC object in a ClassB variable.
It CAN BE ClassB, It IS NOT ClassB.

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