Don't call static method from instance variable

[tvolkert]

No description provided.

[matthew-carroll]

The purpose of that invocation was to keep access to all native methods consistent rather than have arbitrary distinctions. Unless there is a technical (non-stylistic) reason for this change, I would prefer that it be changed back.

[tvolkert]

It was caught by a linter when rolling into Google. The general logic is that it's an error-prone pattern. Consider the following code:

public class Main {
  static class TheClass {
    public static int theMethod() {
      return 1;
    }
  }

  static class TheSubclass extends TheClass {
    public static int theMethod() {
      return 2;
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    TheClass instanceOfTheClass = new TheSubclass();
    System.out.println(instanceOfTheClass.theMethod());
  }
}

TheSubclass appears to "override" theMethod, so we might expect this code to print the number 2.

The code, however, prints the number 1. The runtime type of instanceOfTheClass, TheSubclass, is ignored; only the static type of the reference, as seen by javac, matters.

In fact, the instance that instanceOfTheClass points to is entirely irrelevant. To prove this, set the variable to null and run again. The program will still print 1, not throw a NullPointerException!

Qualifying a static reference in this way creates an unnecessarily confusing situation.

You could argue that FlutterView will never be subclassed, but I'm not sure we know that to be the case...

[matthew-carroll]

I'm not sure that comparison actually maps to the code in question, but I'll come chat in person.