Which attribute is not inherited by a subclass in Java?

In Java, private fields are not inherited by subclasses. This means that even though a subclass can access public and protected fields from its parent class, it cannot access private fields directly because they are encapsulated within the parent class.

Private fields are designed to restrict visibility, ensuring that internal implementation details of a class cannot be accessed or modified directly from outside the class, including from subclasses. This encapsulation is a key principle of object-oriented programming, promoting better data hiding and protecting the integrity of the state of an object.

In contrast, public attributes and protected fields are accessible to subclasses. Public attributes can be accessed from anywhere, while protected fields can be accessed by subclasses and classes within the same package. Static methods, while shared among instances of a class, can also be inherited and called by subclasses. Thus, private fields are the only type of attribute that does not get inherited by subclasses in Java.