Which statement correctly describes method overloading?

Which statement correctly describes method overloading?

• A. Overloading uses the same method name with different parameter lists.
• B. Overloading requires the methods to be in different classes.
• C. Overloading changes only the return type to distinguish methods.
• D. Overloading is the same as overriding.

Answer: (C)

Method overloading means having multiple methods with the same name in the same scope that differ by their parameter lists (numbers or types of parameters). The compiler selects which version to call based on the arguments you pass at the call site. The statement about changing only the return type isn’t correct because the method signature used to distinguish overloaded methods includes the name and parameter types (and their order and count). You can’t have two methods with the same name and the same parameter types but different return types—the compiler wouldn’t be able to tell which one you want. In practice, you overload by varying the parameter list, such as: - display(int) - display(int, int) - display(String) This allows the same operation name to handle different kinds of inputs cleanly. Note that overloading is different from overriding, where a subclass provides a new implementation for a method with the same signature.

Method overloading means having multiple methods with the same name in the same scope that differ by their parameter lists (numbers or types of parameters). The compiler selects which version to call based on the arguments you pass at the call site.

The statement about changing only the return type isn’t correct because the method signature used to distinguish overloaded methods includes the name and parameter types (and their order and count). You can’t have two methods with the same name and the same parameter types but different return types—the compiler wouldn’t be able to tell which one you want.

In practice, you overload by varying the parameter list, such as:

• display(int)

• display(int, int)

• display(String)

This allows the same operation name to handle different kinds of inputs cleanly. Note that overloading is different from overriding, where a subclass provides a new implementation for a method with the same signature.