What is Overriding? Hints: Concept, Use Case Syntax and example

Overriding is a concept in object-oriented programming where a subclass provides a different implementation of a method that is already defined in its superclass.

Use Case: Overriding is commonly used when we want to modify the behavior of a method inherited from a superclass in a subclass. By overriding the method, we can provide a specialized implementation that is specific to the subclass.

Syntax: To override a method, we use the same method signature (name, return type, and parameters) as the method in the superclass. We use the @Override annotation to indicate that we are intentionally overriding the method.

Example: Let's say we have a superclass called Animal with a method called makeSound(). The Animal class has a default implementation of makeSound() that prints "Animal makes a sound".

class Animal {
    public void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Animal makes a sound");
    }
}

class Dog extends Animal {
    @Override
    public void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Dog barks");
    }
}

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Animal animal = new Animal();
        animal.makeSound(); // Output: "Animal makes a sound"

        Dog dog = new Dog();
        dog.makeSound(); // Output: "Dog barks"
    }
}

In this example, the Dog class overrides the makeSound() method from the Animal class and provides its own implementation that prints "Dog barks". When we create an instance of Dog and call the makeSound() method, it prints "Dog barks" instead of the default implementation in the Animal class.