Polymorphism

[jose chiramal]

Can i say overloading as a form of polymorphism ? I know of the below three forms of polymorphism :
Method overriding
– Methods of a subclass override the methods of a
superclass
● Method overriding (implementation) of the abstract
methods
– Methods of a subclass implement the abstract methods
of an abstract class
● Method overriding (implementation) through the
Java interface
– Methods of a concrete class implement the methods of
the interface

[Campbell Ritchie]

I would say, no, overloading doesn't mean polymorphism.

[marc weber]

Overloaded methods have different method signatures, making them entirely separate methods. So overloading is not polymorphism.

[Ulrika Mingle]

jose chiramal wrote:Can i say overloading as a form of polymorphism ?

Sure there are 4 kinds of polymorphisms in the Java type system: Overloading, overriding, coersion and generics.

[Charles Owen]

Polymorphism is basically Greek for "many forms." In OOP, it basically means a type or object can take on many forms. A parent class can take on the form of a derived class and vice versa. For example, you could have a Animal base class, and a Tiger derived class.

[Henry Wong]

Personally, I would say no -- that overloading is not really polymorphism. But, there are many definitions. And I have seen some sites that say yes, that it is a certain type of polymorphism.

Henry