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Overloading in Java

Overloading in Java allows methods to have the same name but different signatures defined by the number and type of parameters. It is a way of implementing static polymorphism at compile time. The key differences between overloading and overriding are that overloading refers to methods with the same name but different signatures in the same class, while overriding refers to methods with the same signature but in different classes where one inherits from the other. Java supports overloading of static methods, constructors, and main methods, but not operator overloading or overloading based solely on return type.

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226 views

Overloading in Java

Overloading in Java allows methods to have the same name but different signatures defined by the number and type of parameters. It is a way of implementing static polymorphism at compile time. The key differences between overloading and overriding are that overloading refers to methods with the same name but different signatures in the same class, while overriding refers to methods with the same signature but in different classes where one inherits from the other. Java supports overloading of static methods, constructors, and main methods, but not operator overloading or overloading based solely on return type.

Uploaded by

Saffa Ibrahim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Overloading in Java

 Difficulty Level : Easy


 Last Updated : 17 Feb, 2021

Overloading allows different methods to have the same name, but different signatures
where the signature can differ by the number of input parameters or type of input
parameters or both. Overloading is related to compile-time (or static) polymorphism.

// Java program to demonstrate working of method

// overloading in Java.

  

public class Sum {

  

    // Overloaded sum(). This sum takes two int parameters

    public int sum(int x, int y)

    {

        return (x + y);

    }

  

    // Overloaded sum(). This sum takes three int parameters

    public int sum(int x, int y, int z)

    {

        return (x + y + z);
    }

  

    // Overloaded sum(). This sum takes two double parameters

    public double sum(double x, double y)

    {

        return (x + y);

    }

  

    // Driver code

    public static void main(String args[])

    {

        Sum s = new Sum();

        System.out.println(s.sum(10, 20));

        System.out.println(s.sum(10, 20, 30));

        System.out.println(s.sum(10.5, 20.5));

    }

Output :
30
60
31.0
Question Arises:
Q. What if the exact prototype does not match with arguments.
Ans.
Priority wise, compiler take these steps:
1. Type Conversion but to higher type(in terms of range) in same family.
2. Type conversion to next higher family(suppose if there is no long data type
available for an int data type, then it will search for the float data type).
Let’s take an example to clear the concept:-

class Demo {

    public void show(int x)

    {

        System.out.println("In int" + x);

    }

    public void show(String s)

    {

        System.out.println("In String" + s);

    }

    public void show(byte b)

    {

        System.out.println("In byte" + b);

    }

}
class UseDemo {

    public static void main(String[] args)

    {

        byte a = 25;

        Demo obj = new Demo();

        obj.show(a); // it will go to

        // byte argument

        obj.show("hello"); // String

        obj.show(250); // Int

        obj.show('A'); // Since char is

        // not available, so the datatype

        // higher than char in terms of

        // range is int.

        obj.show("A"); // String

        obj.show(7.5); // since float datatype

// is not available and so it's higher

// datatype, so at this step their

// will be an error.

}
What is the advantage?
We don’t have to create and remember different names for functions doing the same
thing. For example, in our code, if overloading was not supported by Java, we would
have to create method names like sum1, sum2, … or sum2Int, sum3Int, … etc.

Can we overload methods on return type?


We cannot overload by return type. This behavior is same in C++. Refer this for details

public class Main {

    public int foo() { return 10; }

  

    // compiler error: foo() is already defined

    public char foo() { return 'a'; }

  

    public static void main(String args[])

    {

    }

However, Overloading methods on return type are possible in cases where the data type
of the function being called is explicitly specified. Look at the examples below :

// Java program to demonstrate the working of method

// overloading in static methods

public class Main {


  

    public static int foo(int a) { return 10; }

    public static char foo(int a, int b) { return 'a'; }

  

    public static void main(String args[])

    {

        System.out.println(foo(1));

        System.out.println(foo(1, 2));

    }

Output:
10
a

// Java program to demonstrate working of method

// overloading in  methods

class A {

    public int foo(int a) { return 10; }

  

    public char foo(int a, int b) { return 'a'; }


}

  

public class Main {

  

    public static void main(String args[])

    {

        A a = new A();

        System.out.println(a.foo(1));

        System.out.println(a.foo(1, 2));

    }

Output:
10
a
Can we overload static methods?
The answer is ‘Yes’. We can have two ore more static methods with same name, but
differences in input parameters. For example, consider the following Java program.
Refer this for details.
Can we overload methods that differ only by static keyword?
We cannot overload two methods in Java if they differ only by static keyword (number
of parameters and types of parameters is same). See following Java program for example.
Refer this for details.
Can we overload main() in Java?
Like other static methods, we can overload main() in Java. Refer overloading main() in
Java for more details.
// A Java program with overloaded main()

import java.io.*;

  

public class Test {

  

    // Normal main()

    public static void main(String[] args)

    {

        System.out.println("Hi Geek (from main)");

        Test.main("Geek");

    }

  

    // Overloaded main methods

    public static void main(String arg1)

    {

        System.out.println("Hi, " + arg1);

        Test.main("Dear Geek", "My Geek");

    }

    public static void main(String arg1, String arg2)


    {

        System.out.println("Hi, " + arg1 + ", " + arg2);

    }

Output :
Hi Geek (from main)
Hi, Geek
Hi, Dear Geek, My Geek
Does Java support Operator Overloading?
Unlike C++, Java doesn’t allow user-defined overloaded operators. Internally Java
overloads operators, for example, + is overloaded for concatenation.
What is the difference between Overloading and Overriding?
 Overloading is about same function have different signatures. Overriding is about
same function, same signature but different classes connected through inheritance.

 Overloading is an example of compiler time polymorphism and overriding is an


example of run time polymorphism.
Related Articles:
 Different ways of Method Overloading in Java
 Method Overloading and Null error in Java
 Can we Overload or Override static methods in java ?
This article is contributed by Shubham Agrawal. If you like GeeksforGeeks and would
like to contribute, you can also write an article using contribute.geeksforgeeks.org or mail
your article to contribute@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the
GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.
Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more
information about the topic discussed above.
Attention reader! Don’t stop learning now. Get hold of all the important Java
Foundation and Collections concepts with the Fundamentals of Java and Java
Collections Course at a student-friendly price and become industry ready. To complete
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