Rust for C-Programmers

8.13 Function Overloading

Some languages allow function or method overloading, providing multiple functions with the same name but different parameters. Rust, however, does not permit multiple functions of the same name that differ only by parameter type. Each function in a scope must have a unique name/signature.

• Use generics for a single function supporting multiple types.
• Use traits to define shared method names for different types.

Example with Traits

trait Draw {
    fn draw(&self);
}

struct Circle;
struct Square;

impl Draw for Circle {
    fn draw(&self) {
        println!("Drawing a circle");
    }
}

impl Draw for Square {
    fn draw(&self) {
        println!("Drawing a square");
    }
}

fn main() {
    let c = Circle;
    let s = Square;
    c.draw();
    s.draw();
}

Although both Circle and Square have a draw method, they do so through the same trait rather than through function overloading.