Double import

Question

I get an error when compiling a class that imports two class's with the same name but on diferent packages(I know... :P ).
Example :
import a.A;
import b.A;
public class XPTO {
a.A a;
b.A b;
     public XPTO(){
          a = new a.A();
b = new b.A();
But this 'ERROR' disapears if :
import a.*;
import b.*;
public class XPTO {
a.A a;
b.A b;
     public XPTO(){
          a = new a.A();
b = new b.A();
Is there a reason for such a compilation error? The Classes are explicitly indicated that they are diferent, throughtout the package, and evey call to each one is preceded by the package...
Compiled using the 1.4.Something
Thanx in advance,
Daniel Campelo

Answer 1

import is just a shorthand allowing you to not have to type in the fully-qualified name of a class. If you import a.A, then that means that the compiler can assume that class name A means a.A . When you explicitly import two classes with the same name, how is the compiler supposed to know which one you mean when you use A on it's own?
When using the star notation, the compiler is a bit more permissive. After all, there might be classes of the same name in the package which you aren't using. (java.awt.List, java.util.List). However, if you try to use A on its own
A a = new A();then the compiler will barf as before.
By the way, when posting code on these forums, enclose it in [ c o d e ] [ / c o d e] tags.