Java - Method name collision in interface implementation

Bhaskar picture Bhaskar · Apr 8, 2010 · Viewed 39.2k times · Source

If I have two interfaces , both quite different in their purposes , but with same method signature , how do I make a class implement both without being forced to write a single method that serves for the both the interfaces and writing some convoluted logic in the method implementation that checks for which type of object the call is being made and invoke proper code ?

In C# , this is overcome by what is called as explicit interface implementation. Is there any equivalent way in Java ?

Answer

jjnguy picture jjnguy · Apr 8, 2010

No, there is no way to implement the same method in two different ways in one class in Java.

That can lead to many confusing situations, which is why Java has disallowed it.

interface ISomething {
    void doSomething();
}

interface ISomething2 {
    void doSomething();
}

class Impl implements ISomething, ISomething2 {
   void doSomething() {} // There can only be one implementation of this method.
}

What you can do is compose a class out of two classes that each implement a different interface. Then that one class will have the behavior of both interfaces.

class CompositeClass {
    ISomething class1;
    ISomething2 class2;
    void doSomething1(){class1.doSomething();}
    void doSomething2(){class2.doSomething();}
}