What are the characteristics of method overloading in Java?

Here are some key features of method overloading in Java:

1. Methods with the same name: Overloaded methods must have the same method name.
2. The parameter lists must be different: overloaded methods must have different parameter lists, whether it be in terms of the number of parameters, the types of parameters, or the order of parameters.
3. The return type can be the same or different: overloaded methods can have the same return type or different return types, but method overloading cannot be based solely on differences in return type.
4. Methods can only be overloaded based on the differences in their parameter lists. The Java compiler determines which overloaded method to call based on the arguments, so methods cannot be distinguished solely by their return type or modifiers.
5. The method overloading is not dependent on the return value types: even if two methods have different return value types, they can still be overloaded.
6. Method overloading is independent of method access modifiers: private, default, protected, and public methods can all be overloaded within the same class.
7. Overloading methods is not dependent on the types of exceptions thrown by the methods: one can overload methods to throw different types of exceptions within the same class.