Can we overload static method in Java Program - Example

Overloading static method In Java

Yes, we can overload static method in Java. In terms of method overloading static method is just like normal methods and in order to overload the static method you need to provide another static method with the same name but different method signature. Static overloaded method is resolved using Static Binding during compile time. Overloading method in Java is completely different than the overriding method and as discussed in the last article we can not override static method in Java but we can certainly overload a static method in Java. Here is an example which confirms that we can overload static method in Java:

 

Overloading Static method in Java - example

In this example, we have a static method called greet(String name) which takes a String argument as name and print a default greeting message as "Hello John". Now to show that we can overload static method in Java I have provided another static method with the same name but a different method signature which not only takes the name of a person to greet but also greeting message likeGood Morning, Good Evening etc.

/**   
 * Java program to show that we can overload static method in Java.
 */
public class StaticOverloadingTest {
 
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        greet("John"); //will call a static method with one String argument
        greet("John", "Good Morning"); //overloaded static method will be call    

    }
 
    /*
     * static method which will be overloaded
     */
    public static void greet(String name){
        System.out.println("Hello " + name);
    }
 
    /*
     * Another static method which overloads above Hello method
     * This shows that we can overload static method in Java
     */
    public static void greet(String name, String greeting){
        System.out.println(greeting + " " + name);
    }


}
Output
Hello John
Good Morning John

That's all on How can we overload static methods in Java. In summary, Don't confuse between method overloading and method overriding. In short, you can overload static method in Java but you can not override static method in Java.

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Further Learning
SOLID Principles of Object-Oriented Design
Absolute Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming in Java
Java - Object-Oriented Programming [For Absolute Beginners]