Function overloading in C++ - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Function overloading

📖 Scenario: You are creating a simple calculator program that can add numbers. Sometimes you want to add two numbers, and other times you want to add three numbers.

🎯 Goal: Build a program that uses function overloading to add two or three integers using the same function name add.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create two functions named add: one that takes two integers and one that takes three integers.

Each add function should return the sum of its parameters.

Call both add functions with example values and print the results.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Function overloading helps create cleaner code when you want to perform similar actions with different inputs, like calculators or data processors.

💼 Career

Understanding function overloading is important for writing flexible and readable code in C++ software development jobs.

1

Create the first add function

Write a function called add that takes two int parameters named a and b and returns their sum.

C++

#include 

using namespace std;

// Write the add function that takes two int parameters

int main() {
    
    return 0;
}

Need a hint?

Define a function named add with two int parameters and return their sum using return a + b;.

2

Create the second add function

Add another function called add that takes three int parameters named a, b, and c and returns their sum.

C++

#include 

using namespace std;

int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

// Write the add function that takes three int parameters

int main() {
    
    return 0;
}

Need a hint?

Define a second add function with three int parameters and return their sum.

3

Call both add functions

Inside main, call add(5, 7) and store the result in an int variable named sum_two. Then call add(1, 2, 3) and store the result in an int variable named sum_three.

C++

#include 

using namespace std;

int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

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

int main() {
    // Call add(5, 7) and store in sum_two
    // Call add(1, 2, 3) and store in sum_three
    
    return 0;
}

Need a hint?

Use the add function with two and three arguments and save the results in sum_two and sum_three.

4

Print the results

Add two cout statements to print sum_two and sum_three on separate lines with the exact text: Sum of two numbers: and Sum of three numbers: respectively.

C++

#include 

using namespace std;

int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

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

int main() {
    int sum_two = add(5, 7);
    int sum_three = add(1, 2, 3);
    
    // Print sum_two with text "Sum of two numbers: "
    // Print sum_three with text "Sum of three numbers: "
    
    return 0;
}

Need a hint?

Use cout to print the text and the variables, ending each line with endl.