Method Overloading in Java

Method Overloading in Java
1. Different ways to overload the method

2. By changing the no. of arguments
3. By changing the datatype
4. Why method overloading is not possible by changing the return type
5. Can we overload the main method
6. method overloading with Type Promotion
If a class has multiple methods having same name but different in parameters, it is

known as Method Overloading.
If we have to perform only one operation, having same name of the methods
increases the readability of the program.
Suppose you have to perform addition of the given numbers but there can be any
number of arguments, if you write the method such as a(int,int) for two parameters,
and b(int,int,int) for three parameters then it may be difficult for you as well as other
programmers to understand the behavior of the method because its name differs.
So, we perform method overloading to figure out the program quickly.
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Advantage of method overloading
Method overloading increases the readability of the program.
Different ways to overload the method
There are two ways to overload the method in java

1. By changing number of arguments
2. By changing the data type
In Java, Method Overloading is not possible by changing the return type of the method
only.
1) Method Overloading: changing no. of arguments

In this example, we have created two methods, first add() method performs addition
of two numbers and second add method performs addition of three numbers.
In this example, we are creating static methods so that we don't need to create

instance for calling methods.
1. class Adder{
2. static int add(int a,int b){return a+b;}
3. static int add(int a,int b,int c){return a+b+c;}
4. }
5. class TestOverloading1{
6. public static void main(String[] args){
7. System.out.println(Adder.add(11,11));
8. System.out.println(Adder.add(11,11,11));
9. }}
Test it Now
Output:
22
33
2) Method Overloading: changing data type of arguments

In this example, we have created two methods that differs in data type. The first add
method receives two integer arguments and second add method receives two
double arguments.
1. class Adder{
2. static int add(int a, int b){return a+b;}
3. static double add(double a, double b){return a+b;}
4. }
7. System.out.println(Adder.add(11,11));
8. System.out.println(Adder.add(12.3,12.6));
9. }}
Test it Now
Output:
22
24.9
Q) Why Method Overloading is not possible by changing the

return type of method only?
In java, method overloading is not possible by changing the return type of the
method only because of ambiguity. Let's see how ambiguity may occur:
1. class Adder{
2. static int add(int a,int b){return a+b;}
3. static double add(int a,int b){return a+b;}
4. }
7. System.out.println(Adder.add(11,11));//ambiguity
8. }}
Test it Now
Output:
Compile Time Error: method add(int,int) is already defined in class Adder
System.out.println(Adder.add(11,11)); //Here, how can java determine which sum()

method should be called?
Note: Compile Time Error is better than Run Time Error. So, java compiler renders
compiler time error if you declare the same method having same parameters.
Can we overload java main() method?

Yes, by method overloading. You can have any number of main methods in a class by
method overloading. But JVM calls main() method which receives string array as
arguments only. Let's see the simple example:
2. public static void main(String[] args){System.out.println("main with String[]");}

3. public static void main(String args){System.out.println("main with String");}
4. public static void main(){System.out.println("main without args");}
5. }
Test it Now
Output:
main with String[]
Method Overloading and Type Promotion

One type is promoted to another implicitly if no matching datatype is found. Let's
understand the concept by the figure given below:
As displayed in the above diagram, byte can be promoted to short, int, long, float or
double. The short datatype can be promoted to int, long, float or double. The char
datatype can be promoted to int,long,float or double and so on.
Example of Method Overloading with TypePromotion
1. class OverloadingCalculation1{
2. void sum(int a,long b){System.out.println(a+b);}
3. void sum(int a,int b,int c){System.out.println(a+b+c);}
4.
5. public static void main(String args[]){
6. OverloadingCalculation1 obj=new OverloadingCalculation1();
7. obj.sum(20,20);//now second int literal will be promoted to long
8. obj.sum(20,20,20);
9.
10. }
11. }
Test it Now
Output:40
60
Example of Method Overloading with Type Promotion if

matching found
If there are matching type arguments in the method, type promotion is not
performed.
2. void sum(int a,int b){System.out.println("int arg method invoked");}
3. void sum(long a,long b){System.out.println("long arg method invoked");}
4.
7. obj.sum(20,20);//now int arg sum() method gets invoked
8. }
9. }
Test it Now
Output:int arg method invoked
Example of Method Overloading with Type Promotion in case
of ambiguity
If there are no matching type arguments in the method, and each method promotes
similar number of arguments, there will be ambiguity.
2. void sum(int a,long b){System.out.println("a method invoked");}
3. void sum(long a,int b){System.out.println("b method invoked");}
4.
7. obj.sum(20,20);//now ambiguity
8. }
9. }
Test it Now
Output:Compile Time Error
One type is not de-promoted implicitly for example double cannot be depromoted to any
type implicitly.

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Method Overloading in Java

1. Different ways to overload the method

If a class has multiple methods having same name but different in parameters, it is

So, we perform method overloading to figure out the program quickly.

Advantage of method overloading

Method overloading increases the readability of the program.

Different ways to overload the method

There are two ways to overload the method in java

1) Method Overloading: changing no. of arguments

In this example, we are creating static methods so that we don't need to create

2) Method Overloading: changing data type of arguments

Q) Why Method Overloading is not possible by changing the

Compile Time Error: method add(int,int) is already defined in class Adder

System.out.println(Adder.add(11,11)); //Here, how can java determine which sum()

Can we overload java main() method?

main with String[]

Method Overloading and Type Promotion

Example of Method Overloading with TypePromotion

Example of Method Overloading with Type Promotion if

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