Java Method Overloading
In this article, you’ll learn about method overloading and how you can achieve it in Java with the help of examples.
In Java, two or more methods may have the same name if they differ in parameters (different number of parameters, different types of parameters, or both). These methods are called overloaded methods and this feature is called method overloading. For example:
void func() { ... }
void func(int a) { ... }
float func(double a) { ... }
float func(int a, float b) { ... }
Here, the func() method is overloaded. These methods have the same name but accept different arguments.
Note: The return types of the above methods are not the same. It is because method overloading is not associated with return types. Overloaded methods may have the same or different return types, but they must differ in parameters.
Why method overloading?
Suppose, you have to perform the addition of given numbers but there can be any number of arguments (let’s say either 2 or 3 arguments for simplicity).
In order to accomplish the task, you can create two methods sum2num(int, int) and sum3num(int, int, int) for two and three parameters respectively. However, other programmers, as well as you in the future may get confused as the behavior of both methods are the same but they differ by name.
The better way to accomplish this task is by overloading methods. And, depending upon the argument passed, one of the overloaded methods is called. This helps to increase the readability of the program.
