Is it possible to use multiple dispatch without knowing the type?

Question

Using multiple dispatch to allow for function overloading within OOP, is it possible for me to run the following code:

@dispatch(int)
  def __init__(self, radius: int):

However, remove the int, as the attribute being passed in could either be an int or a str.

Answer 1

Use the functools.singledispatchmethod to overload a class method by its arguments' annotation.

from functools import singledispatchmethod


class Generic:
    """
    >>> _ = Generic(1)
    __init__ got int
    >>> _ = Generic(1.0)
    __init__ got float
    >>> _ = Generic(None)
    default __init__
    """

    @singledispatchmethod
    def __init__(self, radius):
        print("default __init__")

    @__init__.register
    def _(self, radius: int):
        print("__init__ got int")

    @__init__.register
    def _(self, radius: float):
        print("__init__ got float")