javac treating static final differently based on assignment method
class, compiler-construction, final, java, javac
Solution
In the first case, the compiler does an optimization. It knows `Foo` will always be `false` and kill the code than will never be reached.
In the second case, you are assigning the value of the non-final variable `isBar` to `BAR`. The compiler can't tell if the variable `isBar` has been modified somewhere else, especially if it is not private. Therefore it is not sure of the value of `BAR`. Therefore he can not do the optimization.
Problem
When I compile: ``` public static final boolean FOO = false; public static final void fooTest() { if (FOO) { System.out.println("gg"); } } ``` I get an empty method `fooTest() {}`. However when I compile: ``` static boolean isBar = false; public static final boolean BAR = isBar; public static final void fooTest() { if (BAR) { System.out.println("gg"); } } ``` the if statement is included in the compiled class file. Does this mean there are two different "types" of static final in java, or is this just a compiler optimization?