Method overloading in Java - Mini Project: Build & Apply

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Method overloading

📖 Scenario: You are creating a simple calculator program that can add numbers. Sometimes you want to add two numbers, and other times you want to add three numbers.

🎯 Goal: Build a Java program that uses method overloading to add two or three numbers using the same method name add.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a class called Calculator

Create two add methods in the Calculator class: one that adds two integers, and one that adds three integers

Create a main method to test both add methods

Print the results of adding two numbers and three numbers

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Method overloading is used in many programs to perform similar actions with different inputs, like calculators, printers, or data processors.

💼 Career

Understanding method overloading is important for writing clean, reusable code and is a common skill asked in programming interviews.

1

Create the Calculator class with the main method

Create a public class called Calculator and add a public static void main(String[] args) method inside it.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Your code here
    }
}

💡 Need a hint?

Start by writing the class and main method exactly as shown.

2

Add the first add method for two integers

Inside the Calculator class but outside the main method, create a public static method called add that takes two int parameters named a and b and returns their sum as an int.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
    }

    // Your code here
}

💡 Need a hint?

Write a method named add that returns the sum of two integers.

3

Add the second add method for three integers

Inside the Calculator class but outside the main method, create another public static method called add that takes three int parameters named a, b, and c and returns their sum as an int.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
    }

    public static int add(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }

    // Your code here
}

💡 Need a hint?

Create another add method with three parameters to add three numbers.

4

Call both add methods and print the results

Inside the main method, call add(5, 10) and store the result in an int variable named sumTwo. Then call add(3, 7, 2) and store the result in an int variable named sumThree. Finally, print both sumTwo and sumThree using System.out.println.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Your code here
    }

    public static int add(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }

    public static int add(int a, int b, int c) {
        return a + b + c;
    }
}

💡 Need a hint?

Call both add methods with the given numbers and print the results.