How do you overload or override a method?

Answer 1

Any time you have a class that inherits a method from a superclass, you have the opportunity to override the method (unless, as you learned in the earlier chapters, the method is marked final). The key benefit of overriding is the ability to define behavior that's specific to a particular subclass type. The following example demonstrates a Porsche subclass of Car overriding the Car version of the drive() method:

public class Car {

public void drive() {

System.out.println("Generic Car Driving Generically");

}

}

class Porsche extends Car {

public void drive() {

System.out.println("Porsche driving Full Throttle");

}

}

Answer 2

Overloading and overriding are two different things. Only class methods can be overridden but any function, including class methods, can be overloaded.

Overrides apply to class methods. Any virtual method of a base class can be overridden by a derived class. Virtual methods ensure that the most-derived override of that method is always executed first, even when the most-derived type is unknown to the caller -- as would be the case when that method is called from the base class itself. Non-virtual methods can also be overridden in order to mask the base class method.

Overloads are simply functions that have the same name in the same namespace that differ in the number or type of argument they accept. Class constructors are a typical example since it is often useful to provide default, copy and move constructors as well as conversion constructions. The same is also true of assignment operators.

Answer 3

It means you replace the inherited method by some other code.