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Overwrite - METHOD, PARAMS
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Week 5: Class hierarchies/07A. Overwrite and override [Overwrite - METHOD, PARAMS]
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An essential part of specialisation in the child classes is the MODIFICATION of the FUNCTIONALITY inherited from the parent class.
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In other words, a child class can either ADD completely new features or MODIFY inherited features.
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Implementing an inherited method in a new child class is called OVERWRITING the method.
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To overwrite a method, it is sufficient to implement the corresponding method in the inherited class.
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In this case, the objects created from the inherited class will automatically use the 'newer' implementation.
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The method to be overwritten must therefore have
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- the SAME NAME as the original method, and
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- the same list of PARAMETERS as the original method.
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The NUMBER, TYPE and ORDER of PARAMETERS must therefore be exactly the same.
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The name of the formal parameters is irrelevant in this context.
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As a simple example, consider the class Dog with the method bark:
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class Dog {
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public void bark() {
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System.out.println("Bark!");
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}
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}
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Let's then write a child class of the Dog class BigDog, with a reimplemented or overwritten barking method:
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class BigDog extends Dog {
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public void bark() {
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System.out.println("WOOF WOOF!");
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}
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}
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The version of the method used now depends on the type of object being created:
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public static void main(String[] args) {
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Random r = new Random();
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Dog snoopy = new Dog();
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BigDog cerberus = new BigDog();
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snoopy.bark();
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cerberus.bark();
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}
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Program outputs:
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Bark!
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WOOF WOOF!
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