When do you use Java's @Override annotation and why?

Answer 1

For me the @Override ensures me I have the signature of the method correct. If I put in the annotation and the method is not correctly spelled, then the compiler complains letting me know something is wrong.

Answer 2

Whenever a method overrides another method, or a method implements a signature in an interface.

The @Override annotation assures you that you did in fact override something. Without the annotation you risk a misspelling or a difference in parameter types and number.

Answer 3

Use it every time you override a method for two benefits. Do it so that you can take advantage of the compiler checking to make sure you actually are overriding a method when you think you are. This way, if you make a common mistake of misspelling a method name or not correctly matching the parameters, you will be warned that you method does not actually override as you think it does. Secondly, it makes your code easier to understand because it is more obvious when methods are overwritten.

Additionally, in Java 1.6 you can use it to mark when a method implements an interface for the same benefits. I think it would be better to have a separate annotation (like @Implements), but it's better than nothing.

Answer 4

Simple–when you want to override a method present in your superclass, use @Override annotation to make a correct override. The compiler will warn you if you don't override it correctly.

Answer 5

@Override on interfaces actually are helpful, because you will get warnings if you change the interface.

Answer 6

I always use the tag. It is a simple compile-time flag to catch little mistakes that I might make.

It will catch things like tostring() instead of toString()

The little things help in large projects.