What is Method Overloading?

Method overloading allows a class to have multiple methods with the same name but different parameters.

Python does not support traditional method overloading like Java or C++.
However, it can be achieved using default arguments or variable-length arguments (*args/**kwargs).

Example 1: Simulate Method Overloading Using Default Arguments

class Greet:
   def hello(self, name=None):
       if name is not None:
           print("Hello, " + name)
       else:
           print("Hello")
g = Greet()
g.hello()
g.hello("Simran")

Output:

Hello
Hello, Simran

Explanation:

Python chooses the method implementation based on arguments passed at runtime, using logic inside the method.

Example 2: Method Overloading Using *args

class Calculator:
   def add(self, *args):
       return sum(args)
c = Calculator()
print(c.add(5))
print(c.add(5, 10))
print(c.add(1, 2, 3))

Output:

5
15
6

Explanation:

• *args allows the method to accept a variable number of arguments.
• Simulates overloading by handling any number of parameters.

Example 3: Using **kwargs for Flexible Keyword Arguments

class Person:
   def info(self, **details):
       for key, value in details.items():
           print(f"{key}: {value}")
p = Person()
p.info(name="Dharmendra", age=25)

Output:

name: Dharmendra
age: 25

What Happens If You Define the Same Method Twice?

class Demo:
   def show(self):
       print("First")
   def show(self):
       print("Second")
d = Demo()
d.show()

Output:

Second

❗ Reason:

• The second show() overrides the first one — only one method with a given name can exist.

Example 3: Method Overloading with @singledispatch (Advanced)

Python’s functools module offers a decorator @singledispatch that allows function overloading based on type (Python 3.4+).

from functools import singledispatch
@singledispatch
def show(data):
   print("Unsupported type")
@show.register(int)
def _(data):
   print("Integer:", data)
@show.register(str)
def _(data):
   print("String:", data)
@show.register(list)
def _(data):
   print("List with", len(data), "elements")
show(10)
show("Python")
show([1, 2, 3])

Output:

Integer: 10
String: Python
List with 3 elements

Explanation:

• This mimics type-based overloading, though only for functions, not class methods.

Not Supported: Traditional Overloading

class Test:
   def show(self):
       print("First")
   def show(self, msg):
       print("Second: " + msg)
t = Test()
t.show("Hello")

Output:

Second: Hello

Why?

Python uses the latest definition of show(). The earlier one is overwritten.

Summary