Explain what is meant by overloading in the context of programming?

Overloading in programming is the ability to create multiple methods (or functions) with the same name but different parameters (types, number, or order). This allows using one name for different operations distinguished by input data.

For example, in C#, you can define several methods with the same name but different parameters:

public class Calculator
{
    public int Add(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }

    public double Add(double a, double b) {
        return a + b;
    }

    public int Add(int a, int b, int c) {
        return a + b + c;
    }
}

Here, the Add method is overloaded with three variants: for two integers, two floating-point numbers, and three integers. The compiler selects the appropriate method based on the call signature.

Overloading enhances code readability and convenience, allowing the use of one name for similar operations with different types or argument counts.