public abstract boolean overrides (ExecutableElement overrider, ExecutableElement overridden, TypeElement type)

Tests whether one method, as a member of a given type, overrides another method. When a non-abstract method overrides an abstract one, the former is also said to implement the latter.

In the simplest and most typical usage, the value of the type parameter will simply be the class or interface directly enclosing overrider (the possibly-overriding method). For example, suppose m1 represents the method String.hashCode and m2 represents Object.hashCode. We can then ask whether m1 overrides m2 within the class String (it does):

assert elements.overrides(m1, m2, elements.getTypeElement("java.lang.String"));

A more interesting case can be illustrated by the following example in which a method in type A does not override a like-named method in type B:

class A { public void m() { } }
interface B { void m(); }
...
m1 = ...; // A.m
m2 = ...; // B.m
assert ! elements.overrides(m1, m2, elements.getTypeElement("A"));

When viewed as a member of a third type C, however, the method in A does override the one in B:

class C extends A implements B { }
...
assert elements.overrides(m1, m2, elements.getTypeElement("C"));

Parameters:

overrider		the first method, possible overrider
overridden		the second method, possibly being overridden
type		the type of which the first method is a member

Returns:  true if and only if the first method overrides the second

@jls 8.4.8 Inheritance, Overriding, and Hiding
@jls 9.4.1 Inheritance and Overriding