Javadoc

Internal

• java
• Maven javadoc Plugin

Link to External Content

/**
 * For more details see {@linktourl https://example.com}
 */

Inheriting an Overridden Method Comments

When implementing an interface method in an implementation class without providing any javadoc for the overridden method, the overridden method automatically inherits the javadoc of the interface method, with some additional clarifying message to the effect that the documentation was inherited:

public interface A {
    /**
     * This is the interface javadoc.
     */
    public void something();
}

public class AImpl implements A {
    @Override
    public void something() {

        System.out.println("something");
    }
}

The resulted AImpl javadoc;

If the overridden method provides its own javadoc, it will overwrite the interface javadoc:

public class AImpl implements A {
    /**
     * This is documentation for implementation-specific behavior.
     */
    @Override
    public void something() {

        System.out.println("something");
    }
}

The resulted AImpl javadoc - note that the interface javadoc was completely overwritten, and this, in most cases, is probably not a good idea::

It is possible to provide implementation specific documentation and inherit the interface's javadoc using the {@inheritDoc} tag:

public class AImpl implements A {

    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     *
     * <br>
     * <br>
     *
     * This is the overridden method javadoc, which documents implementation-specific aspects.
     */
    @Override
    public void something() {

        System.out.println("something");
    }
}

The resulted AImpl javadoc: