Method Overloading

Method overloading is a feature in Java that allows a class to have more than one method with the same name, as long as their parameter lists are different. This allows you to create methods that perform similar operations but on different types or numbers of arguments, improving code readability and reusability. The compiler decides which version of the method to call based on the arguments you provide during the method call. The differentiation between overloaded methods can be based on two rules: either the number of parameters is different, or the data types of the parameters are different. For example, you could have a `Calculator` class with two `add` methods: one that takes two integers (`add(int a, int b)`) and another that takes two doubles (`add(double a, double b)`). When you call `calculator.add(5, 10)`, the compiler knows to invoke the integer version. If you call `calculator.add(3.5, 2.7)`, it invokes the double version. It is important to note that the return type of the method does not play any role in method overloading. You cannot declare two methods with the same name and same parameters but different return types; this will result in a compilation error. Overloading is a form of polymorphism, specifically compile-time polymorphism or static binding, because the decision of which method to call is made at compile time.