Method Overloading for null argument

Java will always try to use the most specific applicable version of a method that's available (see JLS §15.12.2).

Object, char[] and Integer can all take null as a valid value. Therefore all 3 version are applicable, so Java will have to find the most specific one.

Since Object is the super-type of char[], the array version is more specific than the Object-version. So if only those two methods exist, the char[] version will be chosen.

When both the char[] and Integer versions are available, then both of them are more specific than Object but none is more specific than the other, so Java can't decide which one to call. In this case you'll have to explicitly mention which one you want to call by casting the argument to the appropriate type.

Note that in practice this problem occurs far more seldom than one might think. The reason for this is that it only happens when you're explicitly calling a method with null or with a variable of a rather un-specific type (such as Object).

On the contrary, the following invocation would be perfectly unambiguous:

char[] x = null;doSomething(x);

Although you're still passing the value null, Java knows exactly which method to call, since it will take the type of the variable into account.

Each pair of these three methods is ambiguous by itself when called with a null argument. Because each parameter type is a reference type.

The following are the three ways to call one specific method of yours with null.

doSomething( (Object) null);doSomething( (Integer) null);doSomething( (char[]) null);

May I suggest to remove this ambiguity if you actually plan to call these methods with null arguments. Such a design invites errors in the future.

null is a valid value for any of the three types; so the compiler cannot decide which function to use. Use something like doSomething((Object)null) or doSomething((Integer)null) instead.