Is there method overloading in Python?

Python does not have traditional method overloading like in some other languages (e.g., Java or C++), where multiple methods with the same name but different parameters can be defined. In Python, the last defined version of a method with a given name overwrites the previous ones.

However, behavior similar to overloading can be achieved using:

• Default arguments and *args, **kwargs to handle different numbers and types of parameters.
• Decorators, such as those from the functools.singledispatch module, which allow creating functions with different logic depending on the type of the first argument.

Example using singledispatch:

from functools import singledispatch

@singledispatch
def process(arg):
    print(f"Handling general case: {arg}")

@process.register
def _(arg: int):
    print(f"Handling integer: {arg}")

@process.register
def _(arg: str):
    print(f"Handling string: {arg}")

process(10)    # Handling integer: 10
process("hi") # Handling string: hi
process(3.14)  # Handling general case: 3.14

Thus, in Python, overloading is implemented through dynamic type and argument checking, rather than through static definition of multiple methods with the same name.