Can we overload the main method in Java?

Question

Can we overload a main() method in Java?

Answer 1

You can overload the main() method, but only public static void main(String[] args) will be used when your class is launched by the JVM. For example:

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("main(String[] args)");
    }

    public static void main(String arg1) {
        System.out.println("main(String arg1)");
    }

    public static void main(String arg1, String arg2) {
        System.out.println("main(String arg1, String arg2)");
    }
}

That will always print main(String[] args) when you run java Test ... from the command line, even if you specify one or two command-line arguments.

You can call the main() method yourself from code, of course - at which point the normal overloading rules will be applied.

EDIT: Note that you can use a varargs signature, as that's equivalent from a JVM standpoint:

public static void main(String... args)

Answer 2

This is perfectly legal:

public static void main(String[] args) {

}

public static void main(String argv) {
    System.out.println("hello");
}

Answer 3

Yes According to my point of view, we are able to overload the main method but method overloading that's it. For Example

class main_overload {
    public static void main(int a) {
        System.out.println(a);
    }
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        System.out.println("That's My Main Function");
        main(100);
    }
}

In This Double Back slash Step, I am just calling the main method....

Answer 4

Yes you can Overload main method but in any class there should be only one method with signature public static void main(string args[]) where your application starts Execution, as we know in any language Execution starts from Main method.

package rh1;

public class someClass 
{

    public static void main(String... args)
    {
        System.out.println("Hello world");

        main("d");
        main(10);
    }
    public static void main(int s)
    {

        System.out.println("Beautiful world");
    }
    public static void main(String s)
    {
        System.out.println("Bye world");
    }
}

Answer 5

Yes a main method can be overloaded as other functions can be overloaded.One thing needs to be taken care is that there should be atleast one main function with "String args[] " as arguments .And there can be any number of main functions in your program with different arguments and functionality.Lets understand through a simple example:

Class A{

public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("This is the main function ");
A object= new A();
object.main("Hi this is overloaded function");//Calling the main function
}

public static void main(String argu)     //duplicate main function
{
System.out.println("main(String argu)");
}
}

Output: This is the main function
Hi this is overloaded function

Answer 6

YES, you can overload main()

But to be clear -- although you can overload main, only the version with the standard signature will be executable as an application from the command line. e.g

public static void main(String a,String... args){
// some code
}
2)public static void main(String[] args){//JVM will call this method to start 
// some code 
}