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kotlincompanion-object

Kotlin - accessing companion object members in derived types


Given the following code:

open class Foo {
    companion object {
        fun fez() {}
    }
}

class Bar : Foo() {
    companion object {
        fun baz() { fez() }
    }
}
  • baz() can call fez()
  • I can call Foo.fez()
  • I can call Bar.baz()
  • But, I cannot call Bar.fez()

How do I achieve the final behaviour?


Solution

  • A companion object is a static member of its surrounding class:

    public class Foo {
       public static final Foo.Companion Companion;
    
       public static final class Companion {
          public final void fez() {
          }
    
         //constructors
       }
    }
    

    The call to fez() is compiled to :

    Foo.Companion.fez();
    

    FYI: The shown Java code shows a representation of the bytecode generated by Kotlin.

    As a result, you cannot call Bar.fez() because the Companion object in Bar does not have that method.