Overloaded method selection based on the parameter's real type

Question

I\'m experimenting with this code:

interface Callee {
    public void foo(Object o);
    public void foo(String s);
    public void foo(Integer i);
}

class          


        

Answer 1

Ability to dispatch a call to a method based on types of arguments is called multiple dispatch. In Java this is done with Visitor pattern.

However, since you're dealing with Integers and Strings, you cannot easily incorporate this pattern (you just cannot modify these classes). Thus, a giant switch on object run-time will be your weapon of choice.