java更换引用import,为什么在实例上调用方法时不需要import类的引用（Java）

Something that's confused me - an example:

Thing.java:

import java.util.Date;

class Thing {

static Date getDate() {return new Date();}

}

(same package) TestUsesThing.java:

// not importing Date here.

public class TestUsesThing {

public static void main(String[] args) {

System.out.println(Thing.getDate().getTime()); // okay

// Date date = new Date(); // naturally this wouldn't be okay

}

}

Why is it not necessary to import Date to be able to call getTime() on one of them?

解决方案

Importing in Java is only necessary so the compiler knows what a Date is if you type

Date date = new Date();

Importing is not like #include in C/C++; all types on the classpath are available, but you import them just to keep from having to write the fully qualified name. And in this case, it's unnecessary.