What is the process of defining two or more methods within the same class that have the same name but different parameters declaration?
 Overloading occurs when two or more methods in one class have the same method name but different parameters. Overriding occurs when two methods have the same method name and parameters. One of the methods is in the parent class, and the other is in the child class. Overriding allows a child class to provide the specific implementation of a method that is already present in its parent class. The two examples below illustrate their differences: The table below highlights their key differences:
Take a look at the code below: class Dog{ public void bark(){ System.out.println("woof "); } } class Hound extends Dog{ public void sniff(){ System.out.println("sniff "); } public void bark(){ System.out.println("bowl"); } } class OverridingTest{ public static void main(String [] args){ Dog dog = new Hound(); dog.bark(); } } In this overriding example, the dog variable is declared to be a Dog. During compile-time, the compiler checks if the Dog class has the bark() method. As long as the Dog class has the bark() method, the code compiles. At run-time, a Hound is created and assigned to dog, so, it calls the bark() method of Hound.
Take a look at the code below: class Dog{ public void bark(){ System.out.println("woof "); } //overloading method public void bark(int num){ for(int i=0; i System.out.println("woof "); } } In this overloading example, the two bark methods can be invoked using different parameters. The compiler knows that they are different because they have different method signatures (method name and method parameter list). RELATED TAGS overloading overriding classes Copyright ©2022 Educative, Inc. All rights reserved Get full access to iOS 6 Programming Cookbook and 60K+ other titles, with free 10-day trial of O'Reilly. There's also live online events, interactive content, certification prep materials, and more.
You would like to implement two or more methods with the same name in one object. In object-oriented programming, this is called method overloading. However, in Objective-C, method overloading does not exist in the same way as it does in other programming languages such as C++. Use the same name for your method, but keep the number and/or the names of your parameters different in every method: - (void) drawRectangle{ [self drawRectangleInRect:CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 4.0f, 4.0f)]; } - (void) drawRectangleInRect:(CGRect)paramInRect{ [self drawRectangleInRect:paramInRect withColor:[UIColor blueColor]]; } - (void) drawRectangleInRect:(CGRect)paramInRect withColor:(UIColor*)paramColor{ [self drawRectangleInRect:paramInRect withColor:paramColor andFilled:YES]; } - (void) drawRectangleInRect:(CGRect)paramInRect withColor:(UIColor*)paramColor andFilled:(BOOL)paramFilled{ /* Draw the rectangle here */ }This example shows a typical pattern in overloading. Each rectangle can be drawn either filled (solid color) or empty (showing just its boundaries). The first procedure is a “convenience procedure” that allows the caller to avoid specifying how to fill the rectangle. In our implementation of the first procedure, we merely call the second procedure, making the choice for the caller (andFilled:YES) The second procedure gives the caller control over filling. You can define two methods with the same name so long as they differ in the parameters they accept. One reasons for doing this is one function offers more customization (through parameterization) than the other function. Method overloading is a programming language feature supported by Objective-C, C++, Java, and a few other languages. Using this feature, programmers can create different methods with the same name, in the same object. However, method overloading in Objective-C differs from that which can be used in C++. For instance, in C++, to overload a method, the programmer needs to assign a different number of parameters to the same method and/or change a parameter’s data type. In Objective-C, however, you simply change the name of at least one parameter. Changing the type of parameters will not work: - (void) method1:(NSInteger)param1{ /* We have one parameter only */ } - (void) method1:(NSString *)param1{ /* This will not compile as we already have a method called [method1] with one parameter */ }Changing the return value of these methods will not work either: - (int) method1:(NSInteger)param1{ /* We have one parameter only */ return param1; } - (NSString *) method1:(NSString *)param1{ /* This will not compile as we already have a method called [method1] with one parameter */ return param1; }As a result, you need to change the number of parameters or the name of (at least) one parameter that each method accepts. Here is an example where we have changed the number of parameters: - (NSInteger) method1:(NSInteger)param1{ return param1; } - (NSString*) method1:(NSString *)param1 andParam2:(NSString *)param2{ NSString *result = param1; if ([param1 length] > 0 && [param2 length] > 0){ result = [result stringByAppendingString:param2]; } return result; }Here is an example of changing the name of a parameter: - (void) drawCircleWithCenter:(CGPoint)paramCenter radius:(CGFloat)paramRadius{ /* Draw the circle here */ } - (void) drawCircleWithCenter:(CGPoint)paramCenter Radius:(CGFloat)paramRadius{ /* Draw the circle here */ }Can you spot the difference between the declarations of these two methods? The first method’s second parameter is called radius (with a lowercase r) whereas the second method’s second parameter is called Radius (with an uppercase R). This will set these two methods apart and allows your program to get compiled. However, Apple has guidelines for choosing method names as well as what to do and what not to do when constructing methods. For more information, please refer to the “Coding Guidelines for Cocoa” Apple documentation available here. Here is another example of two methods that draw a circle but have different names for their second parameter: - (void) drawCircleWithCenter:(CGPoint)paramCenterPoint radiusInPoints:(CGFloat)paramRadiusInPoints{ /* Draw the circle here */ } - (void) drawCircleWithCenter:(CGPoint)paramCenterPoint radiusInMillimeters:(CGFloat)paramRadiusInMillimeters{ /* Draw the circle here */ }Here is a concise extract of the things to look out for when constructing and working with methods:
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