Function Overloading

Function Overloading is defined as the process of having two or more function with the same name, but different in parameters is known as function overloading. In function overloading, the function is redefined by using either different types of arguments or a different number of arguments. It is only through these differences compiler can differentiate between the functions.

For example:

// same name different arguments

int test() { }

int test(int a) { }

float test(double a) { }

int test(int a, double b) { }

Alert:

Overloaded functions may or may not have different return types but they must have different arguments. For example,

// Error code

int test(int a) { }

double test(int b){ }

Here, both functions have the same name, the same type, and the same number of arguments. Hence, the compiler will throw an error.

Example 1:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Function to calculate the area of a rectangle

int calculateArea(int length, int width) {

    return length * width;

}

// Function to calculate the area of a square

int calculateArea(int side) {

    return side * side;

}

// Function to calculate the area of a circle

double calculateArea(double radius) {

    return 3.14159 * radius * radius;

}

int main() {

   int length, width, side;

    double radius;

    // Area of a rectangle

    cout << "Enter length and width of the rectangle: ";

    cin >> length >> width;

    cout << "Area of rectangle: " << calculateArea(length, width) << endl;

    // Area of a square

    cout << "Enter the side of the square: ";

    cin >> side;

    cout << "Area of square: " << calculateArea(side) << endl;

    // Area of a circle

    cout << "Enter the radius of the circle: ";

    cin >> radius;

    cout << "Area of circle: " << calculateArea(radius) << endl;

    return 0;

}

Output:

Enter length and width of the rectangle: 20 10

Area of rectangle: 200

Enter the side of the square: 12

Area of square: 144

Enter the radius of the circle: 5

Area of circle: 78.5397

Process returned 0 (0x0)   execution time : 20.163 s

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Example 2:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

// Function to add two integers

int add(int a, int b) {

    return a + b;

}

// Function to add two floating-point numbers

double add(double a, double b) {

    return a + b;

}

// Function to concatenate two strings

string add(string a, string b) {

    return a + b;

}

int main() {

// Adding two integers

    int int1 = 5, int2 = 10;

    cout << "Sum of integers: " << add(int1, int2) << endl;

    // Adding two floating-point numbers

    double double1 = 5.5, double2 = 10.5;

    cout << "Sum of doubles: " << add(double1, double2) << endl;

    // Concatenating two strings

    string str1 = "Hello, ", str2 = "World!";

    cout << "Concatenated string: " << add(str1, str2) << endl;

    return 0;

}

Output:

Sum of integers: 15

Sum of doubles: 16

Concatenated string: Hello, World!

Process returned 0 (0x0)   execution time : 3.090 s

Press any key to continue.