method name overloading | it possible for methods to behave differently depending on the arguments they receive | mechanism | method overloading | Methods | // Two methods have the same name and the same number of parameters // but different parameter types public String eats(Cat aCat) { return "mice"; }
public String eats(Dog aDog) { return "bones"; } | the return type when differentiating between overloaded methods | A mechanism that allows several methods to have the same name as long as they have different method signatures |