Overriding Methods

A derived class (Tiger) can override methods of a base class (Cat). The overridden methods are called even when a reference to an instance of the derived class (tiger1) is stored in a variable of the base class (cat2).

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package org.megha.blog.example.part7;

public class Cat {

    public String whoAmI() {
        return "I am a cat.";
    }
}

package org.megha.blog.example.part7;

public class Tiger extends Cat {
// a tiger is also a cat :)

    @Override
    public String whoAmI() {
        return "I am a tiger.";
    }
}

package org.megha.blog.example.part7;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String args[]) {

        Cat cat1 = new Cat();
        Tiger tiger1 = new Tiger();
        Cat cat2 = tiger1;

        System.out.println(cat1.whoAmI());
        // prints "I am a cat."

        System.out.println(tiger1.whoAmI());
        // prints "I am a tiger."

        System.out.println(cat2.whoAmI());
        // prints "I am a tiger."
    }
}