Method Overloading in Java with Examples

Method Overloading in Java

Method overloading in Java is a feature which makes it possible to use the same method name to perform different tasks. In this tutorial post we will Understand the concept of Java Method Overloading. In the previous post, we understood what are methods in java so if you have missed that post you can check it out.

If a class has multiple methods having same name but different in parameters, it is known as Method Overloading. Overloading allows different methods to have same name, but different signatures where signature can differ by number of input parameters or type of input parameters or order of input parameters. Overloading is related to compile time (or static) polymorphism (we will understand polymorphism in other tutorial).

Lets, take an example situation to understand –

Suppose you have a program to perform addition of numbers and you create a method to add 2 numbers as – add(int x, int y). Now you have a new requirement to add 3 numbers so you again create a new method as – add3(int x, int y, int z). But now again you have one more new requirement to add 4 numbers. You see the hassle here right ? every time you get this requirement you have to find a new method name. But the underlying logical operation is the same right ? cause in the end we are anyways going to perform addition. So why use different method names. So that is where method overloading comes to the rescue.

method overloading in java
Method Overloading in Java

Advantage of method overloading

Method overloading increases the readability of the program.

Different ways to overload the method

There are 3 ways to overload the method in java

  • By changing number of arguments
  • By changing the data type
  • By changing the order of arguments (if different datatypes are involved)

Example of Method Overloading in Java

public class MethodOverloading {

    //1) 2 arguments int & double
    double add(int x, double y)
    {
        return(x+y);
    }
    //2) 2 arguments but different order - double & int
    double add(double x, int y)
    {
        return(x+y);
    }
    //3) 3 arguments
    double add(double x, int y, float z)
    {
        return(x+y+z);
    }
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO code application logic here
        int a=5;
        double b = 7.5;
        float c = 4.5f;
        
        double result;
        
        MethodOverloading obj = new MethodOverloading();
        result = obj.add(b, a); // 1st add function
        System.out.println("Addtion is: "+result);
        result = obj.add(a, b); // 2nd add function
        System.out.println("Addtion is: "+result);
        result = obj.add(b,a,c); // 3rd add function
        System.out.println("Addtion is: "+result);
        
    }
    
}
Output
Addtion is: 12.5
Addtion is: 12.5
Addtion is: 17.0
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