What is the difference between method overriding and overloading in Go?

What is the difference between method overriding and overloading in Go?

Method overriding allows a derived type to provide a specific implementation of a method that is already defined in its base type. In contrast, method overloading allows multiple methods to have the same name but different parameters within the same scope.

Can you give me an example of method overriding in Go?

Sure! In Go, you can achieve method overriding by defining a method in a derived struct that has the same name as a method in its base struct. Here's a simple example:

package main

import "fmt"

type Animal struct {}

func (a Animal) Speak() {
    fmt.Println("Animal speaks")
}

type Dog struct { Animal }

func (d Dog) Speak() {
    fmt.Println("Dog barks")
}

func main() {
    var a Animal = Animal{}
    var d Dog = Dog{}
    a.Speak() // Output: Animal speaks
    d.Speak() // Output: Dog barks
}

And what about method overloading? Is it supported in Go?

Go does not support method overloading in the traditional sense. However, you can achieve similar functionality by using variadic functions or by defining methods with different names.

Can you explain variadic functions in Go?

Certainly! A variadic function in Go is a function that can accept a variable number of arguments. You define it by using an ellipsis (...) before the type of the last parameter. For example:

func Sum(nums ...int) int {
    total := 0
    for _, num := range nums {
        total += num
    }
    return total
}

func main() {
    fmt.Println(Sum(1, 2, 3)) // Output: 6
}