Method Overriding and Method Overloading?

Method overriding is where you take a method from an ancestor class and change its parameters. For example:

TObject has a Method Create which has no input parameters. You derive a class from Tobject and want to add a parameter.

TMyObject = class(TObject)
public
  constructor Create(MyParam: string); override;
end;

Method overloading is a way to make one method name do dual duty depending on the paramaters given as you see below depending on if your input parameters are Integers or Reals the apporpriate method is called.

TMyObject = class(TObject)
public
  function Add( X, Y: Integer): Integer; overload;
  function Add( X, Y: Real): Real; overload;
end;

One thing you cannot do is overload a published function, because of run time info the below will not work.

TMyObject = class(TObject)
pubished
  function Add( X, Y: Integer): Integer; overload;
  function Add( X, Y: Real): Real; overload;
end;

lol Ignore the part about override. Got it mixed up with reintroduce.

Overridng a Methos is simply you want your class to have its own implemention of a method declaired in a base class.

Class1 = Class(TObject)
public
  procedure MyMethod( MyParam: String);
end;

Class2 = Class(Class1)
  procedure MyMethod( MyParam: String); override;
end;

Reintroduce is where you take a method from an ancestor class and change its parameters. For example:

TObject has a Method Create which has no input parameters. You derive a class from Tobject and want to add a parameter.

TMyObject = class(TObject)
public
  constructor Create(MyParam: string); reintroduce;  //This will hide the original Create
end;

TMyObject = class(TObject)
public
  constructor Create(MyParam: string); reintroduce; overload;  //This will not hide the original Create
end;

Hi  BJThomsen

Thank you very much for your answer. They are very clear and I like the way you documented your reply. I think I completely understand overload method and main point of override method.  However, I am still have some points not sure:

1) I don't understand these sentences "// This will hide the original Create"  and  "// This will not hide the original Create". I need more explanation here.

2)When I read the book, I often see that if the method in the parent class is virtual then the method in the child class is override. Is there any thing special here?

Example:
TBase = class
   ...
   Procedure Show; virtual;
   ...
end;

TBase1 = class(TBase)
   ...
   Procedure Show; override;
   ...
end;

bri: your example is correct and BJ's is not

override let's you reimplement and/or reuse the inherited implementiation of a virtual or dynamic method - for example the Create of TComponent
overload let'y you have different implementations of the same method within a class or any descendant's it might have
an example would be the IntToStr function

Thank you, Lee Nover

BJThomsen, please continue