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You are in Section 9 of 9, Article 9.3 of 9.7

9 .. Object Oriented Programming (OOP)
       9.3 .. Function Overloading

Function Overloading

When using multiple constructors for a class, you are actually overloading functions. Operators and regular non-class functions can also be overloaded.

To overload a regular non-class function, simply create multiple functions using the same function name but with each having a different signature, which is the name, number of parameters, order and types of the parameters, and the class to which it belongs (does not include the return type).

The overloaded functions must have different parameter lists so the compiler knows which function to use depending on the order and types of the arguments.

For example, consider the following overloaded add() function:

overloadfuncs.cpp

For another example of overloaded functions, study the following complete program which demonstrates the use of "swap" functions:

void swap (int& x, int& y) { int temp; temp = x; x = y; y = temp; }// end swap () for integers void swap (double& x, double& y) { double temp; temp = x; x = y; y = temp; }// end swap () for double void swap (char x[], char y[]) { char temp[STRLEN]; strcpy(temp, x); strcpy(x, y); strcpy(y, temp); }// end swap () for strings

Here is a comlete program example:

swapfunctions.cpp

This swap( ) function is defined for integers, floating point values (double), and strings. All three may be included in the same program. When the function is called within the program, the compiler will determine which function to use by evaluating the parameter list of the calling function.

Just like functions, certain operators can also be overloaded.

Read on for more...

Next: Operator Overloading

You are in Section 9 of 9, Article 9.3 of 9.7

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