Interfaces and static methods

Question

Hi All,
Does anyone know why you can't declare static methods in an interface? Is there a way round this problem?
Cheers...

Answer 1

But this won't:public class StijnsClass
  public static void aMethod()
    System.out.println("StijnsClass.aMethod()");
  public static void main(String[] arg)
    StijnsClass stijnsInstance = new StijnsSubClass();
    stijnsInstance.aMethod();
    System.out.println("Nothing else to say, here?");
class StijnsSubClass extends StijnsClass
  public static void aMethod()
    System.out.println("StijnsSubClass.aMethod()");
    super.aMethod(); // Wrong!!!
}You will get:
"StijnsClass.java:21: non-static variable super cannot be referenced from a static context".
If you remove static from the subclass method definition, you will get:
"StijnsClass.java:18: aMethod() in StijnsSubClass cannot override aMethod() in StijnsClass; overridden method is static"
That's the point. You aren't extending the method; you are only hiding it. To make it work, both methods must be instance methods, ergo, static methods cannot be extended.