University of Central Florida (UCF) COP3330 Object Oriented Programming Final Practice Exam

The ability for a subclass to have a different implementation of a method than its superclass is defined as method overriding. When a subclass provides its own specific implementation for a method that is already defined in its superclass, this allows for dynamic polymorphism, where the method invoked is determined at runtime based on the object type.

This is crucial in object-oriented programming as it promotes the concept of inheritance, enabling a subclass to inherit properties and behavior from a parent class while still allowing it to customize or enhance those behaviors as needed. Method overriding ensures that the most relevant method implementation is called based on the actual object type instantiated, rather than just the reference type.

In contrast, method hiding refers to a scenario in static contexts where a subclass declares a static method with the same name as one in its superclass, but this does not allow for a dynamic, polymorphic behavior. Method encapsulation refers to restricting direct access to some of an object’s components which is more about data access rather than method behavior. Method overloading involves multiple methods with the same name but different parameter lists within the same class or subclass, which does not pertain to altering the implementation of an inherited method.