overloading
Function overloading for Python 3
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
No. The package is abandoned (last release 2016-04-15, last commit 2021-02-17) and will not receive updates for modern Python versions or type system changes. Install only if maintaining legacy code that already depends on it.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low install friction with no runtime dependencies beyond the standard library.
- However, the package is abandoned—last commit was 2021-02-17 and latest release 2016-04-15—so it will not receive updates for Python version changes or security issues.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, requiring only attribution and inclusion of the license text.
last release 2016-04-15 (3773 days) · last repo commit 2021-02-17 · 111 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 324,211 downloads/mo, #7,598 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install overloading
from overloading import overload
@overload
def process(x: int):
return x * 2
@overload
def process(x: str):
return x.upper()
process(5)
process('hello')- Whether the package remains compatible with Python versions released after 2016 or current typing module behavior.
- Real-world performance characteristics when dispatching across many overloaded signatures.
- Whether edge cases in type matching (e.g., union types, generic aliases) are handled as expected.
- Availability of maintained alternatives for modern Python projects.
What it is and what it does
Overloading is a Python module that implements function and method dispatch based on the types and number of arguments supplied at runtime. It lets you define multiple implementations of the same function name, each handling a different set of argument types, and automatically routes calls to the best matching implementation. The dispatcher uses type hints and signature validation to guarantee deterministic behavior.
The package supports optional parameters, variadic signatures with *args and **kwargs, class methods, static methods, and evaluates both positional and keyword arguments. It has no dependencies beyond Python's standard library. However, the project is abandoned—the last commit was in 2021-02-17 and the most recent release dates to 2016-04-15—so it will not be maintained for newer Python versions or type system changes.
Use it for
- Implement polymorphic functions that behave differently based on input type without explicit type checking.
- Build APIs where the same function name handles integers, strings, lists, or custom objects with type-safe dispatch.
- Create mathematical or scientific libraries where operations adapt to numeric types.
- Simplify method resolution in class hierarchies by dispatching to specialized implementations based on argument types.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
No.
The package is abandoned (last release 2016-04-15, last commit 2021-02-17) and will not receive updates for modern Python versions or type system changes. Install only if maintaining legacy code that already depends on it.
Install
overloading on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with no runtime dependencies beyond the standard library. However, the package is abandoned—last commit was 2021-02-17 and latest release 2016-04-15—so it will not receive updates for Python version changes or security issues.
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, requiring only attribution and inclusion of the license text.
Quickstart
pip install overloading
from overloading import overload
@overload
def process(x: int):
return x * 2
@overload
def process(x: str):
return x.upper()
process(5)
process('hello')Verify before relying
- Whether the package remains compatible with Python versions released after 2016 or current typing module behavior.
- Real-world performance characteristics when dispatching across many overloaded signatures.
- Whether edge cases in type matching (e.g., union types, generic aliases) are handled as expected.
- Availability of maintained alternatives for modern Python projects.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 3,773 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 324,211 / month, #7,598 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.2Programming Language :: Python :: 3.3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5 |
Evidence: overloading-0.5.0-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “function overloading python”
- overloadingProvides function and method overloading based on runtime argument…
- singledispatchProvides single-dispatch generic functions—a decorator-based…
- plum-dispatchPlum implements multiple dispatch in Python, allowing you to define…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Software Development packages
Provides backported and experimental type hints for Python 3.9+, allowing use of newer typing features on older Python versions and enabling early experimentation with type system PEPs before they enter the standard library.
NumPy provides an N-dimensional array object and a comprehensive suite of mathematical, linear algebra, Fourier transform, and random number functions for scientific computing in Python.
FastAPI is a Python web framework for building REST APIs using type hints, with automatic request validation, serialization, and interactive API documentation.
Provides a way to document function parameters, class attributes, return types, and variables inline using Python's `Annotated` type hint syntax instead of traditional docstrings.
Typer builds command-line applications from Python functions using type hints, automatically generating help text, argument parsing, and shell completion.
Install it if you are building CLIs in Python.
Distlib provides low-level packaging utilities for building, distributing, and managing Python software—including metadata handling, version specifiers, wheel support, script installation, and dependency resolution.
See also classes · diastatic-malt · mo-kwargs · multipledispatch · ovld · plum-dispatch · simplegeneric · visitor · multimethod · methoddispatch