Item 40: Consistently use the Override annotation

// Can you spot the bug?
public class Bigram {
    private final char first;
    private final char second;

    public Bigram(char first, char second) {
        this.first  = first;
        this.second = second;
    }
    public boolean equals(Bigram b) {
        return b.first == first && b.second == second;
    }
    public int hashCode() {
        return 31 * first + second;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Set<Bigram> s = new HashSet<>();
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
            for (char ch = 'a'; ch <= 'z'; ch++)
                s.add(new Bigram(ch, ch));
        System.out.println(s.size());
    }
}

@Override public boolean equals(Bigram b) {
    return b.first == first && b.second == second;
}

Bigram.java:10: method does not override or implement a method
from a supertype
    @Override public boolean equals(Bigram b) {
@Override public boolean equals(Object o) {
    if (!(o instanceof Bigram))
        return false;
    Bigram b = (Bigram) o;
    return b.first == first && b.second == second;
}

Therefore, you should use the Override annotation on every method declaration that you believe to override a superclass declaration. There is one minor exception to this rule. If you are writing a class that is not labeled abstract and you believe that it overrides an abstract method in its superclass, you needn’t bother putting the Override annotation on that method. In a class that is not declared abstract, the compiler will emit an error message if you fail to override an abstract superclass method. 
Therefore, you should use the Override annotation on every method declaration that you believe to override a superclass declaration. There is one minor exception to this rule. If you are writing a class that is not labeled abstract and you believe that it overrides an abstract method in its superclass, you needn’t bother putting the Override annotation on that method. In a class that is not declared abstract, the compiler will emit an error message if you fail to override an abstract superclass method.