False positive for "Unused Element" hint on overriding package-private method

[nmatt]

Apache NetBeans version

Apache NetBeans 15

What happened

Example Java source code:

public abstract class AbstractBase
{
    abstract void method();
    
    static
    {
        AbstractBase base = new Derived();
        base.method();
    }
}

final class Derived extends AbstractBase
{
    @Override
    void method() { return; }  // (*)
}

NetBeans shows a warning and hint 'Remove unused "method"' on the overriding method() (*) in the Derived class, This is incorrect, because clearly the method is being used, via the AbstractBase type. The usage analysis apparently doesn't take overridden methods into account.

NetBeans 12.2 (which I used previously) does not show that warning, although it does support the same hint ("Unused Element"). So this appears to be a regression.

How to reproduce

See example source code above.

Did this work correctly in an earlier version?

Apache NetBeans 12.3 or earlier

Operating System

Windows 10 Enterprise 22H1

JDK

Oracle JDK 8u271

Apache NetBeans packaging

Apache NetBeans provided installer

Anything else

No response

Are you willing to submit a pull request?

No

Code of Conduct

Yes