Can overridden methods differ in return type?

Question

Can overridden methods have different return types?

Answer 1

Yes, if they return a subtype. Here's an example:

package com.sandbox;

public class Sandbox {

    private static class Parent {
        public ParentReturnType run() {
            return new ParentReturnType();
        }
    }

    private static class ParentReturnType {

    }

    private static class Child extends Parent {
        @Override
        public ChildReturnType run() {
            return new ChildReturnType();
        }
    }

    private static class ChildReturnType extends ParentReturnType {
    }
}

This code compiles and runs.