Object-Oriented Programming & C++ Function Overloading

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) Fundamentals

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a computer programming model that uses objects to represent and manipulate data.

OOP is well-suited for large, complex, and frequently updated software. Some of the main features of OOP include:

• Classes: User-defined data types that serve as a blueprint for individual objects, attributes, and methods.
• Objects: Instances of a class that are created with specific data.
• Methods: Functions that objects can perform.
• Attributes: Represent the state of an object.
• Abstraction: Exposes only the essential information of an object to the user.
• Polymorphism: Adds different meanings to a single component.
• Inheritance: Allows a class to inherit the properties and methods of another class.
• Constructors and Destructors: Manage the lifecycle of objects.

Function Overloading in C++

Function overloading in C++ is a technique that allows multiple functions to have the same name but different parameters. This enables the programmer to provide different semantics for a function depending on the number and types of its arguments.

Here are some examples of function overloading:

Print Function

A print function that takes a std::string argument might perform different tasks than a function that takes a double argument.

Plus Function

A function that can add numbers of different types, such as int and double.

Area Function

A function that can calculate the area of a rectangle, with default values for the width and height, but also allows the caller to provide different values.

Function overloading can help to:

• Speed up program execution
• Make code easier to understand
• Reduce memory utilization
• Make programs reusable

C++ Code Example: Time Class

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class time {
private:
    int hours;
    int minutes;
public:
    void gettime(int h, int m) {
        hours = h;
        minutes = m;
    }
    void puttime() {
        cout << "Hours: " << hours << " Minutes: " << minutes << endl;
    }
    void sum(time, time);
};

void time::sum(time t1, time t2) {
    minutes = t1.minutes + t2.minutes;
    hours = minutes / 60;
    minutes %= 60;
    hours = hours + t1.hours + t2.hours;
}

int main() {
    time t1, t2, t3;
    t1.gettime(2, 45);
    t2.gettime(3, 30);
    t3.sum(t1, t2);
    t1.puttime();
    t2.puttime();
    t3.puttime();
    return 0;
}