Let says I have classes A, B and C
B extends A C extends B
all have public void foo() method defined.
Now from C's foo() method I want to invoke A's foo() method (NOT its parent B but it's super super parent A's method)
I checked super.super.foo(); But it's invalid syntax.
How can I achieve this?
It's not possible, we're limited to call the superclass implementations only.
You can't - because it would break encapsulation.
You're able to call your superclass's method because it's assumed that you know what breaks encapsulation in your own class, and avoid that... but you don't know what rules your superclass is enforcing - so you can't just bypass an implementation there.
You can't do it in a simple manner.
This is what I think you can do:
Have a bool in your class B. Now you must call B's foo from C like [super foo] but before doing this set the bool to true. Now in B's foo check if the bool is true then do not execute any steps in that and just call A's foo.
Hope this helps.
You can't even use reflection. Something like
Class superSuperClass = this.getClass().getSuperclass().getSuperclass();
superSuperClass.getMethod("foo").invoke(this);
would lead to an InvocationTargetException, because even if you call the foo-Method on the superSuperClass, it will still use C.foo() when you specify "this" in invoke. This is a consequence from the fact that all Java methods are virtual methods.
It seems you need help from the B class (e.g. by defining a superFoo(){ super.foo(); } method).
That said, it looks like a design problem if you try something like this, so it would be helpful to give us some background: Why you need to do this?
The need to call method of the parent's super class means that your entities hierarchy is thought out not well enough - your child class inherits behavior that is not intrinsic for it (see Liskov substitution principle). Thus consider to extend class A instead of B or any other solution that will not break this principle.