Adding a method to a class using anonymous class

Asked Jul 18 '16 at 20:29

Active Jul 18 '16 at 20:31

Viewed 39 times

I'm still rather new to anonymous classes could anyone explain to me why this doesn't work?

List<String> instanceOfAnonymousClass = new ArrayList<string>(){
  public void printSomething(){
    System.out.println("something");
  };
};
instanceOfAnonymousClass.printSomething();

Eclipse says

"The method printSomething() is undefined for the type List<String>"

So it won't even compile

edited Jul 18 '16 at 20:31

SLaks

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asked Jul 18 '16 at 20:29

Artemio Ramirez

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You can override methods in an anonymous class, but you can't create new ones. – Hovercraft Full Of Eels Jul 18 '16 at 20:30
Your anonymous class has no class name. Your variable is of type List, and you can't cast it to another type without a class name. Exception to above, you can give it new methods, but they can only be used internally. – Hovercraft Full Of Eels Jul 18 '16 at 20:32
Is there a way I can add a new method to a class without having to create a class inheriting from it? Something like an anonymous class which is way more "disposable" – Artemio Ramirez Jul 18 '16 at 20:32
@HovercraftFullOfEels thanks for pointing me to that other question, I've thought of a better way to accomplish my goal now – Artemio Ramirez Jul 18 '16 at 20:42
Simply create a non anonymous private inner class – Hovercraft Full Of Eels Jul 18 '16 at 22:26

Adding a method to a class using anonymous class

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