Chapter 4 - Methods and Encapsulation

Question 1

What is the order of precedence for overloading methods?

Answer 1

1. The exact primitive type of the argument
2. If the argument is a byte, short, char, int, or long:
   - The next larger size whole number primitive
   available (byte, short, int, and long)
   - The smallest size decimal primitive available.
   (float, double)
3. If the argument is a float:
   - A double primitive
4. A wrapper class type (has to be an exact match)
5. Varargs (exact primitive type)
   If the argument is a byte, short, char, int, or long:
6. The next larger size whole number varargs available (byte, short, int, and long)
   - The smallest size decimal varargs available
   (float, double)
7. If the argument is a float:
   
   • A double varargs
     -Varargs (exact Wrapper class)

Example:

public class MethodPicker {
    // Method A
    public void pickMe(int x) {
        System.out.println ("int");
    }

    // Method B
    public void pickMe(long x) {
        System.out.println ("long");
    }

    // Method C
    public void pickMe(Integer x) {
        System.out.println ("Integer");
    }

    // Method D
    public void pickMe(int... x) {
        System.out.println ("int...");
    }

    // Method E 
    public void pickMe(long... x) {
        System.out.println ("long...");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        MethodPicker mp = new MethodPicker();
        int x = 5;
        mp.pickMe(x); 
    }  
}