class

Java Overloading Methods

With this example we are going to demonstrate how to use Overloading Java Methods in a class. Overloaded methods are methods with the same name signature but either a different number of parameters or different types in the parameter list. We have created a class, that has constructors and methods with the same names but with different arguments and use them in new class instances to see their behavour. Specificaly:

  • Tree class has an int field, treeHeight.
  • It has a constructor where it sets its int field to zero.
  • It also has a constructor where it sets its int field to a given int value.
  • It has a method void info() where it prints a message with the field.
  • It also has a method void info(String str) where it prints a message with a given String and the int field.
  • We create two new Tree objects and for each one of them call info() and info(String str) methods.
  • The objects are created using the constructor with the int argument.
  • Then a new instance of Tree is created using the constructor without fields.

Let’s take a look at the code snippet that follows:  

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package com.javacodegeeks.snippets.core;
 
 
class Tree {
 
    int treeHeight;
 
    Tree() {
 
  System.out.println("Plant a seedling");
 
  treeHeight = 0;
    }
 
    //Overloaded Constructor
    //Notice that the two constructors have the same name , but different arguments
    Tree(int num) {
 
  System.out.println("Creating new Tree that is " + num + " meters tall");
 
  treeHeight = num;
    }
 
    void info() {
 
  System.out.println("Tree is " + treeHeight + " meters tall");
    }
 
    void info(String str) {
 
  System.out.println(str + ": Tree is " + treeHeight + " meters tall");
    }
}
 
public class  MethodOverloading{
 
    public static void main(String[] args) {
 
   
 
  for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
 
 
Tree t = new Tree(i);
 
 
t.info();
 
 
t.info("overloaded method");
 
  }
 
  // Overloaded constructor:
 
  new Tree();
 
    }
}

Output

Creating new Tree that is 0 meters tall
Tree is 0 meters tall
overloaded method: Tree is 0 meters tall
Creating new Tree that is 1 meters tall
Tree is 1 meters tall
overloaded method: Tree is 1 meters tall
Plant a seedling

 This was an example of how to use overloaded methods in a class in Java.

Ilias Tsagklis

Ilias is a software developer turned online entrepreneur. He is co-founder and Executive Editor at Java Code Geeks.
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