Method overriding rules in Java - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Method overriding rules

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are creating a simple program for a zoo. Different animals make different sounds. You want to show how method overriding works in Java by making a base class Animal and a subclass Dog that changes the sound.

🎯 Goal: You will build two classes: Animal with a method makeSound(), and Dog that overrides makeSound() to show a different sound. Then you will create objects and call the method to see the effect of overriding.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a class called Animal with a method makeSound() that prints "Some generic animal sound"

Create a subclass called Dog that extends Animal

Override the makeSound() method in Dog to print "Bark"

Create objects of Animal and Dog and call their makeSound() methods

Print the outputs to show method overriding in action

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Method overriding is used in many programs to customize behavior for different types of objects, like animals making different sounds.

💼 Career

Understanding method overriding is essential for object-oriented programming jobs, enabling you to write flexible and reusable code.

1

Create the base class Animal

Create a class called Animal with a method makeSound() that prints exactly "Some generic animal sound".

Java

// Your code here
// Create class Animal with makeSound() method

Need a hint?

Use System.out.println inside makeSound() to print the sound.

2

Create subclass Dog that extends Animal

Create a class called Dog that extends Animal. Do not add any methods yet.

Java

public class Animal {
    public void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Some generic animal sound");
    }
}

// Your code here
// Create class Dog that extends Animal

Need a hint?

Use extends keyword to make Dog a subclass of Animal.

3

Override makeSound() in Dog

In the Dog class, override the makeSound() method to print exactly "Bark".

Java

public class Animal {
    public void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Some generic animal sound");
    }
}

public class Dog extends Animal {
    // Your code here
    // Override makeSound() to print "Bark"
}

Need a hint?

Use @Override annotation above the method to show you are overriding.

4

Create objects and call makeSound()

Create an Animal object called animal and a Dog object called dog. Call makeSound() on both and print the results.

Java

public class Animal {
    public void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Some generic animal sound");
    }
}

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

// Your code here
// Create objects and call makeSound()

Need a hint?

Remember to create a Main class with main method to run your code.