Resolve inherited Java static method

[scabug]

Inherit static method from Java class is not recognized by Scala class
Here there is an small and simple example:

MyClass.java
public class MyClass extends MyClassBase {}

abstract class MyClassBase {
  public static void myStaticBaseMethod() {}
}

MyScalaClass.scala
class MyScalaClass {
  MyClassBase.myStaticBaseMethod() //compiles
  MyClass.myStaticBaseMethod() //no compiles. Wrong!!!
}

[scabug]

Imported From: https://issues.scala-lang.org/browse/SI-7386?orig=1
Reporter: Gaston Lodieu (glodieu)
Affected Versions: 2.9.2, 2.10.1

[scabug]

@adriaanm said:
stumbled into another problem while exploring this in the repl

scala> MyClassBase.myStaticBaseMethod()
java.lang.IllegalAccessError: tried to access class MyClassBase from class 
	at .<init>(<console>:8)

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@SethTisue said:
in both 2.11.8 and 2.12.0, the IllegalAccessError mentioned by Adriaan no longer occurs. (You correctly get a "object MyClassBase cannot be accessed in package " compile-time error, because MyClassBase isn't declared public.)

As for the original issue, I suggest we simply close it as "Not a Bug". Scala simply doesn't have the Java concept of statics. We have companion objects instead, but no inheritance relationship exists between the companion objects of a subclass and a superclass. Following Java here and allowing MyClass.myStaticBaseMethod wouldn't be consistent with that.

You can call the method through the superclass, so I don't see that any actual interop problem arises here.

[scabug]

Stefano Baghino (stefanobaghino) said:
I see why supporting the same concept wouldn't make sense in Scala (and would probably introduce unnecessary complexity).
Do you think it would be feasible just to introduce an error message that can be a little bit friendlier towards those coming from Java, perhaps suggesting what the user can do?
I've just stumbled on this error trying to use static methods defined on an InputFormat implementation to run a job on Spark (Hadoop ecosystem, in particular I'm using an AccumuloInputFormat).

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@lrytz said:
test case in scala/scala#5606

[SethTisue]

@lrytz do you agree this should be closed as "not a bug"? scala/scala#5606 doesn't aim to "fix" this ticket, right?

[lrytz]

Yes, I agree

[SethTisue]

Do you think it would be feasible just to introduce an error message that can be a little bit friendlier towards those coming from Java, perhaps suggesting what the user can do

a pull request with that would be welcome, as far as I can see. (I don't think it merits an additional ticket — there are too many improvable error messages to have individual tickets for them all)