Looking at the set of methods in a class, including superclass methods, and finding two methods or fields that differ only by capitalization is
confusing to users of the class. It is similarly confusing to have a method and a field which differ only in capitalization or a method and a field
with exactly the same name and visibility.
In the case of methods, it may have been a mistake on the part of the original developer, who intended to override a superclass method, but instead
added a new method with nearly the same name.
Otherwise, this situation simply indicates poor naming. Method names should be action-oriented, and thus contain a verb, which is unlikely in the
case where both a method and a member have the same name (with or without capitalization differences). However, renaming a public method could be
disruptive to callers. Therefore renaming the member is the recommended action.
Code examples
Noncompliant code example
public class Car{
public DriveTrain drive;
public void tearDown(){...}
public void drive() {...} // Noncompliant; duplicates field name
}
public class MyCar extends Car{
public void teardown(){...} // Noncompliant; not an override. It it really what's intended?
public void drivefast(){...}
public void driveFast(){...} //Huh?
}
Compliant solution
public class Car{
private DriveTrain drive;
public void tearDown(){...}
public void drive() {...} // field visibility reduced
}
public class MyCar extends Car{
@Override
public void tearDown(){...}
public void drivefast(){...}
public void driveReallyFast(){...}
}
