The following code doesn't compile.

package varargspkg;

public class Main {

    public static void test(int... i) {
        for (int t = 0; t < i.length; t++) {
            System.out.println(i[t]);
        }

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

    public static void test(float... f) {
        for (int t = 0; t < f.length; t++) {
            System.out.println(f[t]);
        }

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

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        test(1, 2);  //Compilation error here quoted as follows.
    }
}

A compile-time error is issued.

reference to test is ambiguous, both method test(int...) in varargspkg.Main and method test(float...) in varargspkg.Main match

It seems to be obvious because the parameter values in the method call test(1, 2); can be promoted to int as well as float

If anyone or both of the parameters are suffixed by F or f, it compiles.


If we however, represent the receiving parameters in the method signature with respective wrapper types as follows

public static void test(Integer... i) {
    System.out.println("Integer" + Arrays.asList(i));
}

public static void test(Float... f) {
    System.out.println("Float" + Arrays.asList(f));
}

then the call to the method test(1, 2); doesn't issue any compilation error. The method to be invoked in this case is the one that accepts one Integer varargs parameter (the first one in the preceding snippet).

Why is in this case the error as in the first case not reported? It appears that auto-boxing and automatic type promotion are both applied here. Is auto-boxing applied first so that the error is resolved?

The Oracle docs says,

Generally speaking, you should not overload a varargs method, or it will

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