CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#
Alvin
Alvin

Reputation: 8499

function overload

Can I have two same function name with same parameters but different meaning.

For example:

public void test(string name) 

public void test(string age)

Thank you.

Upvotes: 5

Views: 245

Answers (7)

0x6900
0x6900

Reputation: 155

NO.

An OVERLOADED FUNCTION must have different SIGNATURE. i.e.- arguments should be different, either in terms of number of arguments or order of different datatypes arguments.

Upvotes: 0

user1640277
user1640277

Reputation:

No - the compiler throws an error because compiler use parameters to detemine which method to call, not the return type.

Upvotes: 0

J. Steen
J. Steen

Reputation: 15578

No, you can't. The signature is not different - it doesn't matter what the parameter names are.

Methods are declared in a class or struct by specifying the access level such as public or private, optional modifiers such as abstract or sealed, the return value, the name of the method, and any method parameters. These parts together are the signature of the method.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173114.aspx

Like a few other answers have stated, consider the type of data you're taking in. Name is indeed a typical string, but does age have to be? If you allow it to be a - for example - int then you can overload your method as you wish.

Upvotes: 4

Alessandro
Alessandro

Reputation: 3761

You could mix together these methods using optional parameters and default values:

public void test(string name = null, string age = null)
{
  if (name != null) 
  {
     // Do something
  }
  else if (age != null)
  {
     // Do something else
  }
}

And you could call this method like that:

test(name: "John");
test(age: "30");

Not very clean, but still useable.

Upvotes: 1

dsgriffin
dsgriffin

Reputation: 68566

You can have static and non-static methods with the same name, but different parameters following the same rules as method overloading, they just can't have exactly the same signature.

Upvotes: 2

Sergey Kalinichenko
Sergey Kalinichenko

Reputation: 726479

No, you cannot overload on a return type or a parameter name. Unlike some other languages (most notably, Objective C1) parameter name is not part of the signature of your function.

The signature of a method consists of the name of the method and the type and kind (value, reference, or output) of each of its formal parameters, considered in the order left to right. The signature of a method specifically does not include the return type, nor does it include the params modifier that may be specified for the right-most parameter.

1 even there it's not exactly the parameter name that becomes part of the selector.

Upvotes: 3

Peter Porfy
Peter Porfy

Reputation: 9030

No. Signatures and Overloading

If you need a method with different meaning why won't you create a method with a different name? It would be confusing to use the same method name for different things on the same object.

Upvotes: 1

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