Function overloading in C++ [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
List of C++ name resolution (and overloading) rules

What are the rules in C++ for how the compiler decides which function to choose ? (that's is given two functions with the same name - how does the compiler pick/prioritize one function over the other, mainly I want to know what types of casting the compiler is more willing to do when he chooses)

Answer 1

As already stated, the rules are fully described in the standard. As a basic rule of thumb, the compiler will select the overload that requires the least automatic conversions, with the caveat that it will never apply 2 user-defined conversions.

Integer types get automatically cast around a lot. So if you have a function overloaded on an int and a double, the compile will pick the int function if called with a constant that is an integer. If you didn't have the int version, the compiler would select the double one. And among various integer types, the compiler prefers int for integer constants, because that is their type. If you overloaded on short and unsigned short, but called with a constant of 5, the compiler would complain that it couldn't figure out which overload to use.

Scott Meyers' book does indeed have the best explanation I have ever read.