Overloading can be tricky

Extra care must be taken while writing Overloading methods. The compiler decides which version of an overloaded method will be called based on declared compile-time type, not run-time type. For the case in which overloaded methods have the same number of arguments, the rules regarding this decision can sometimes be a bit tricky.

If there may be confusion, you may simplify the design:

• use different method names, and avoid overloading altogether
• retain overloading, but ensure each method has a distinct number of arguments
• In addition, it is recommended that varargs not be used when a method is overloaded, since this makes it more difficult to determine which overload is being called.

Reminder : Overloading requires methods with distinct signatures. The signature of a method includes its name and the ordered list of its argument types. All other items appearing in a method header, such as exceptions, return type, final, and synchronized, do not contribute to a method’s signature.