What will happen to the hashCode method in a class if it does not explicitly inherit it from another class?

If a Java class does not override the hashCode() method, it inherits the implementation from its closest superclass, usually Object. In Object, hashCode() returns an integer value that is typically related to the object's memory address (though this is not guaranteed by the specification).

Therefore, if you do not override hashCode(), different objects will return different values, even if they are logically equal. This is important to consider, especially if you override equals(), because the contract between equals() and hashCode() requires that equal objects have the same hash code.

Example:

class MyClass {
    // No override of hashCode()
}

MyClass obj1 = new MyClass();
MyClass obj2 = new MyClass();
System.out.println(obj1.hashCode()); // For example, 12345678
System.out.println(obj2.hashCode()); // For example, 87654321

If you want objects to be compared by content, you need to override both equals() and hashCode().