Polymorphism: Polymorphism is considered one of the important features of Object-Oriented Programming. Polymorphism allows us to perform a single action in different ways. In other words, polymorphism allows you to define one interface and have multiple implementations. The word “poly” means many and “morphs” means forms, So it means many forms.
A person at the same time can have different characteristic. Like a man at the same time is a father, a husband, an employee. So the same person posses different behavior in different situations. This is called polymorphism.
Polymorphism in java programming
In Java polymorphism is mainly divided into two types:
- Compile time Polymorphism
- Runtime Polymorphism
1. Compile-time polymorphism: It is also known as static polymorphism. This type of polymorphism is achieved by function overloading or operator overloading. But Java doesn’t support the Operator Overloading.
Method Overloading: When there are multiple functions with same name but different parameters then these functions are said to be overloaded. Functions can be overloaded by change in number of arguments or/and change in type of arguments.
2. Runtime Polymorphism: It is also known as Dynamic Method Dispatch. It is a process in which a function call to the overridden method is resolved at Runtime. This type of polymorphism is achieved by Method Overriding.
Method Overriding , on the other hand, occurs when a derived class has a definition for one of the member functions of the base class. That base function is said to be overridden
