Java Programming/Keywords/super

is a keyword. It is used inside a sub-class method definition to call a method defined in the super class. Private methods of the super-class cannot be called. Only public and protected methods can be called by the keyword. It is also used by class constructors to invoke constructors of its parent class. Super keyword are not used in static Method. Syntax: .<method-name>([zero or more arguments]); or: ([zero or more arguments]); For example: Code listing 1: SuperClass.java public class SuperClass { public void printHello() { System.out.println("Hello from SuperClass"); return; } } Code listing 2: SubClass.java public class SubClass extends SuperClass { public void printHello() { super.printHello(); System.out.println("Hello from SubClass"); return; } public static main(String[] args) { SubClass obj = new SubClass(); obj.printHello(); } } Running the above program: Command for Code listing 2 $Java SubClass Output of Code listing 2 Hello from SuperClass Hello from SubClass In Java 1.5 and later, the "super" keyword is also used to specify a lower bound on a wildcard type parameter in Generics. Code section 1: A lower bound on a wildcard type parameter. public void sort(Comparator<? super T> comp) { ... } See also: pt:Java/Palavra-chave/super deep