Overridden methods are those that are redefined in a subclass and hide methods of a superclass. The new method can use the previous definition through a special mechanism, for example, the super keyword in Smalltalk and Java. Some people confuse overriding with overloaded methods, but they are really quite different; the main difference is that the choice of method from a set of overriding methods is made according to the class of the receiver of the method request, whereas the name of an overloaded method is constructed according to the static types of the arguments to the method request. Another difference is that an overriding method must be declared in a subclass of the class that declared the overridden method, while several overloadings of a method name can be declared in the same class. Look at the following example from Java:
public class class1 { int f(int x) { return x+3; } } public class class2 extends class1 { @Override int f(int x) // overriding { return x*x; } int f(int x, int y) // overloading { return x*y; } }Read more about this topic: Method (computer Science)
Famous quotes containing the word methods:
“With a generous endowment of motherhood provided by legislation, with all laws against voluntary motherhood and education in its methods repealed, with the feminist ideal of education accepted in home and school, and with all special barriers removed in every field of human activity, there is no reason why woman should not become almost a human thing. It will be time enough then to consider whether she has a soul.”
—Crystal Eastman (18811928)