What is inheritance based overloading?

Inheritance and method overloading are two separate concepts in programming. Inheritance involves creating a new class that inherits properties and behaviors from an existing class. Method overloading, on the other hand, is about creating multiple methods with the same name but different parameter lists within the same class.

However, it's possible that you might be referring to the concept of method overloading within an inheritance hierarchy. In this case, you can have overloaded methods in both the base and derived classes. The derived class's overloaded methods can extend or modify the behavior defined in the base class. Let's illustrate this with a C# example:

using System;

class Shape
{
    public void Draw()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Drawing a generic shape");
    }
}

class Circle : Shape
{
    public void Draw(int radius)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Drawing a circle with radius {radius}");
    }
}

class Rectangle : Shape
{
    public void Draw(int width, int height)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Drawing a rectangle with width {width} and height {height}");
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Shape shape = new Shape();
        Circle circle = new Circle();
        Rectangle rectangle = new Rectangle();

        shape.Draw();                   // Base class method
        circle.Draw();                  // Derived class method
        circle.Draw(5);                 // Derived class overloaded method
        rectangle.Draw();               // Derived class method
        rectangle.Draw(4, 3);           // Derived class overloaded method
    }
}

1. The Shape class has a base method Draw.
2. The Circle class inherits from Shape and has its own method Draw, as well as an overloaded method Draw that takes an additional parameter.
3. The Rectangle class similarly inherits from Shape and has its own method Draw, along with an overloaded Draw method.

Drawing a generic shape
Drawing a generic shape
Drawing a circle with radius 5
Drawing a generic shape
Drawing a rectangle with width 4 and height 3

Remember, while you can have overloaded methods within an inheritance hierarchy, it's still the concept of method overloading at play, not a distinct "inheritance-based overloading."