Two Functions, One Name: Overloading in C++

Lesson notes

Key points

• Function overloading means defining several functions with the same name but different parameter lists in the same scope.
• At compile time, overload resolution matches the argument types in each call to the best fitting parameter list.
• A different return type alone is not enough, so int f(int) and double f(int) cause a compile error.

Definitions

Function overloading

Same function name, different number or types of parameters; the compiler picks one per call.

Takeaway: Overloads differ by parameters, never by return type alone.

OverloadingOverload resolutionReturn type rule