Question

Which of the following is sufficient for 2 methods to overload?

Note: sub/super means the methods are in two classes that are in an inheritance relationship.

Select one:

a. Same signature, same class

b. Different signature but same name, same class

c. Different signature including different name, same class

d. Different signature but same name, sub/super class

e. If you think more than one of the above are sufficient for 2 methods to overload, select this option

[Java]

Answer 1

Answer :

Different signature but same name, same class is sufficient for 2 methods to overload.

Explanation :

• Methods overload in the same class only and if we try to define a method with the same name in other class (child class) it is called method overriding with a same signature. So option d is eliminated.
• Option a is eliminated because it gives an incomplete explanation for the methods. If methods have the same signature and are in the same class but if they have the same name also it leads to error because no method with the same name and same signature is allowed to overload.
• If the methods have different names and are in the same class, then there is no overloading since both the methods are unique because of their names despite their signature. So option c is also eliminated.
• Option e is thereby eliminated due to all the above discussions.
• Now, for two methods to overload, they should have the same name and should be in the same class but should have a different number of arguments or/and different data types for arguments in the two methods i.e should have a different signature. So option b is the correct one.
• For example, function sam(int, float, float) and function sam(float, int, char) can overload due to different datatypes even if they have the same number of arguments and in the same class.