If a method that is not declared private
was declared static
(that is, a class
method) and is changed to not be declared static
(that is, to an instance method),
or vice versa, then compatibility with pre-existing binaries may be broken, resulting in a linkage time error, namely an IncompatibleClassChangeError
, if these
methods are used by the pre-existing binaries. Such changes are not recommended
in code that has been widely distributed.