A query regarding abstract class in java

Question

I am writing a program where there are quite a lot number of methods in a particular class, so I decided to write an abstract class to help in keeping track of the methods.

Now, consider this: I have declared a method as abstract in the abstract class, and in the other class (which extends the abstract class), I want to override this method, but with access privilege reduced to private. Here, the compiler is giving a problem. It says that an attempt to assign weaker access privileges is being met with, which cannot be allowed. If I try to declare the method in the abstract class as protected (I have also changed the private ones to protected in the sub-class), it says that modifiers abstract and protected cannot be used together.

So, what can I do? Do I have to make the methods package access or public in both classes? If so, is there no way that I can declare these methods private?

Please note that I'm asking only for abstract classes, and not all classes in general.

How does having an abstract class help in "keeping track of the methods"? — Scott Hunter, Aug 03 '17 at 19:58
Btw, this looks like an [XY Problem](http://xyproblem.info/). You should probably elaborate on what exactly you're trying to accomplish. — shmosel, Aug 03 '17 at 20:00
@ScottHunter Why not? Say, you have 12 methods in a particular class. Declaring an abstract class helps in seeing all the method definitions in one place and also helps in keeping track of their signatures and return types. — Wrichik Basu, Aug 03 '17 at 20:06
@bclarkreston not quite. I'm asking specifically about **abstract classes**. — Wrichik Basu, Aug 03 '17 at 20:09
lol @WrichikBasu use an IDE to explore and navigate all the class methods, no ? — marsouf, Aug 03 '17 at 20:30
Couldn't understand what you said. I'm working on BlueJ IDE. — Wrichik Basu, Aug 04 '17 at 04:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 03 '17 at 20:01

1

What do you mean it can not be protected abstract - of course it can.

And the thing that you want to do is basically prohibited by the compiler and the language itself in the first place.

answered Aug 03 '17 at 20:01

Eugene

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 03 '17 at 19:57

The answer to your question is: there's nothing you can do to reduce the visibility of a method declared in a parent class.

If you can restate what you're trying to accomplish by "keeping track of the methods" in an abstract parent class, you might get a different solution.

A query regarding abstract class in java

2 Answers2