Articles : JavaBoutique's Introduction to Java :
Object-Oriented Design :

Overloading

Objects are also smart enough to be dynamic. Specifically, they have the ability to react differently depending on the situation.

This is important because it makes the API both flexible and easy to understand for the incoming developer. That is, the API has the ability to grow as needed without affecting older code.

Let's look at an example. Suppose you have a method called "print()".

The first question you might ask is, "what does this method print: pictures, text, or what?"

Well using "overloading", an object can be made to handle any scenario with the exact same method name. Thus, depending on what the object is asked to print, it will be able to print it.

Instead of having separate methods like printPicture(), printLetters(), and printNumbers() you have one unified print() and the object itself determines how to handle the different types of situations.

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Selena Sol contributes to the JavaBoutique's Introduction to Java. Selena curently works for Barclays Capital in London, one of the leading global investment banks in Europe and has worked as a software developer for the National Center for Human Genome research, Microline Software, Neuron Data, and Electric Eye in Singapore. Selena is perhaps best-known for creating the Public Domain Web Script Archive (Extropia) and writing several books on Web Programming (Perl, CGI, Java).
Email: selena@extropia.com

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