Why are all methods virtual???

Question

class Base
     public Base()
          System.out.println("Calling f() from base class ...");
          f();
          return;
     public void f()
          System.out.println("Base class function called!");
          return;
class Derived extends Base
     public Derived()
          System.out.println("Calling f() from derived class ...");
          f();
          return;
     public void f()
          System.out.println("Derived class function called!");
          return;
     public static void main(String args[])
          new Derived();
          return;
}The problem in this: the call to f() from the Base class calls the Derived class method. I want it to call the Base class method. How do I do this?
Ravi

Answer 1

Sorry, I cant explain the circumstances under which I
encountered this problem without explaining a whole
lot about my product. But I cant make it a private
method because I need to be able to call it from
outside the package. I found a workaround for my
problem by putting a call to super.f() in the derived
class. But I really wonder why the makers of Java
chose to make it this way!
RaviIf you can't explain your problem then don't post your questions here. It's not like a small post on a forum board will cause your IP any damage.
The design of OOP is that if you override a method in a subclass of an object, the reason for doing so is that you are add/changing functionality of that method. If you don't need to add/change functionality of a method then don't override it. Polymorphism ensures that no matter what type of object the compiler thinks you are reffering to, at runtime you will call the correct method of the type of object you encounter then. This is why interfaces work. calling the super class to complete processing of a method is not a hack, or a design problem it's the way to do it. If the class that you are extending changes private data structures in a method, and you override that method, unless you are doing a radical change to the class, you probably need to call the super method to ensure that the proper changes are made.