Java Reference
In-Depth Information
• The number of parameters and the types of the parameters, in order.
• The result type, or
void
.
• The invocation mode, computed as follows:
♦ If the compile-time declaration has the
static
modifier, then the invocation
mode is
static
.
♦ Otherwise, if the compile-time declaration has the
private
modifier, then the in-
vocation mode is
nonvirtual
.
♦ Otherwise, if the part of the method invocation before the left parenthesis is of
the form
super .
Identifier
or of the form
ClassName
. super .
Identifier
, then the
invocation mode is
super
.
♦ Otherwise, if the compile-time declaration is in an interface, then the invoca-
tion mode is
interface
.
♦ Otherwise, the invocation mode is
virtual
.
If the compile-time declaration for the method invocation is not
void
, then the type of the
method invocation expression is the result type specified in the compile-time declaration.
15.12.4. Run-Time Evaluation of Method Invocation
At run time, method invocation requires five steps. First, a
target reference
may be com-
puted. Second, the argument expressions are evaluated. Third, the accessibility of the meth-
od to be invoked is checked. Fourth, the actual code for the method to be executed is loc-
ated. Fifth, a new activation frame is created, synchronization is performed if necessary,
and control is transferred to the method code.
15.12.4.1. Compute Target Reference (If Necessary)
There are several cases to consider, depending on which of the five productions for
Meth-
1.
If the first production for MethodInvocation, which includes a
MethodName
, is in-
volved, then there are three subcases:
• If the
MethodName
is a simple name, that is, just an
Identifier
, then there are
two subcases:
♦ If the invocation mode is
static
, then there is no target reference.
♦ Otherwise, let
T
be the enclosing type declaration of which the method is a
member, and let
n
be an integer such that
T
is the
n
'th lexically enclosing type
