Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The Object superclass is the root class in Java that all other classes inherit from. It provides basic functionality and methods that are common to all objects.
Inheritance is a mechanism in Java where one class inherits properties and behaviors from another class. It allows for code reuse and promotes hierarchical organization of classes.
Method Overriding: Method overriding occurs when a subclass provides its own implementation of a method that is already defined in its superclass. This allows for customization and specialization of behavior.
The toString() method is a method defined in the Object class that returns a string representation of an object. It is commonly overridden in subclasses to provide meaningful information about the object's state.