Overriding vs. Overloading in Java
Overriding and Overloading are two very important concepts in Java. They are confusing for Java novice programmers. This post illustrates their differences by using two simple examples.
1. Definitions
Overloading occurs when two or more methods in one class have the same method name but different parameters.
Overriding means having two methods with the same method name and parameters (i.e., method signature). One of the methods is in the parent class and the other is in the child class. Overriding allows a child class to provide a specific implementation of a method that is already provided its parent class.
2. Overriding vs. Overloading
Here are some important facts about Overriding and Overloading:
1. Real object type, not the reference variable's type, determines which overridden method is used atruntime. In contrast, reference type determines which overloaded method will be used at compile time.
2. Polymorphism applies to overriding, not to overloading.
3. Overriding is a run-time concept while overloading is a compile-time concept.
3. An Example of Overriding
Here is an example of overriding. After reading the code, guess the output.
Output:
bowl
In the example above, the dog
variable is declared to be a Dog
. During compile time, the compiler checks if the Dog
class has the bark()
method. As long as the Dog
class has the bark()
method, the code compilers. At run-time, a Hound
is created and assigned to dog
. The JVM knows that dog
is referring to the object of Hound
, so it calls the bark()
method of Hound
. This is called Dynamic Polymorphism.
4. An Example of Overloading
In this overloading example, the two bark
method can be invoked by using different parameters. Compiler know they are different because they have different method signature (method name and method parameter list).
References:
1) Defining Method. This tutorial is from Oracle, it explains the components of a method and which of them are used by compiler to differentiate methods.