Python's idiom for function overloads

[Philippe Fremy]

	Hi Frans,

> Since Python doesn't have static typing, how is the same result as traditional 
> function overloads results in acheived?

With dynamic typing obviously. :-)

You can not reproduce the C++ overload idiom but you can get something 
close with manual type testing.

 > To in a
 > function do an if statement with the type() function?

I am not aware of any other method.

def a( arg1 ):
	if type(arg1) == types.IntType: return aWithInt(arg1)
	if type(arg1) == types.ListType: return aWithList(arg1)
	...

As you see, it is a bit tedious sometimes.

If you want to juggle with completely different signatures, you have to 
play with variable argument lists. But I have found in my experience 
that the best way to get close to the C++ idiom, while improving 
readbility, is by using kwparams:

def a(**kwparams):
	if kwparams.has_key('argInt'): aWithInt(kwparams['argInt'])
	if kwparams.has_key('argString'): aWithString(kwparams['argString'])

The parsing code is the same, but the intent of the user is better 
expressed and you can catch misuse in a better fashion:
	if kwparams.has_key('argInt') and kwparams.has_key('argString'):
		print "You stupid moron, a can be used only with string or int but not 
both at the same time!"
		sys.exit(1)

The example speaks better in a real case. Imagine a processPixmap function:
processPixmap( pixmap=QPixmap(...) )
processPixmap( filename='my_pixmap.png' )
processPixmap( buffer=my_pixmap_string_content )

It works actually even better with multiple arguments.

	regards,

	Philippe