[GROOVY-6891] Inconsistent setter selection dynamic and static Groovy

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 2.3.3
• Fix Version/s: 2.4.0-beta-4
• Assignee: Cédric Champeau
• Reporter: Jason Winnebeck
• Created: 24/Jun/14 15:34
• Updated: 17/Dec/14 13:25
• Resolved: 19/Sep/14 07:10

Description

Tested in JDK 7, GroovyConsole 2.3.3:

class X {
  void setValue(String v) { println "String $v" }
  void setValue(float f) { println "float $f" }
}

new X().value = 12.3f //Outputs "float 12.3"
//new X().value = "123" //would fail with Cannot cast object '123' with class 'java.lang.String' to class 'float'

@groovy.transform.CompileStatic
void doIt() {
new X().value = 12.3f //Outputs "String 12.3"
new X().value = "123" //Outputs "String 123"
}

doIt()

In real code, some developers report code always working/compiling, others report that it fails 25% of the time.

I expected dynamic Groovy to select method at runtime based on type, and static Groovy to select method at compile time based on inferred type.

I think this is a bug in Groovy, if for no other reason than dynamic Groovy ought to issue an ambiguous call and static Groovy should at a minimum issue compile error, if Groovy doesn't support multiple setX methods when using property notation. Or maybe at least Groovy should be consistently selecting a set method. Based on the other developer's experience, it seems that the setter selection could differ on each execution. In any case I'sd expect a compile/runtime error or consistent behavior.