javac puzzle

[laurent gilles]

Hi there,

I've spotted out an unexpected javac behavior, just wanted to share it to get some feedback from you guys, as it's a bit annoying.

So here it is, given the following folders structure and class content:

adir/A.java

public class A {}

bdir/B.java

public class B { 
	public B(String s){} 
	private B(A a){}
}

cdir/C.java

public class C { 
	void m(){ 
		B b = new B(""); 
	}
}

and the following commands:
javac adir/A.java
javac bdir/B.java -cp adir/

then
javac cdir/C.java -cp bdir/
fails with the following:
C.java:3: cannot access A
file A.class not found
B b = new B("");
^
1 error

So even if in B.java, nothing can possibly access an A class (which is anyway NOT in the classpath) or at least access an exposed API from B that involes an A, C.java will not compile!
It gets even wierder because with the following modifications, everything compiles fine:
- Adding an empty constructor to B

public class B { 
	public B(){} 
	public B(String s){} 
	private B(A a){}
}

- Calling the empty constructor instead of the String one in C

public class C { 
	void m(){ 
		B b = new B(); 
	}
}

Then javac does not complain anymore and does its job...
Couldn't find anything on internet on that..
Thanks!