Polymorphism is one of the most important concepts in Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs). An OOP language must enable polymorphism in order to be considered such. Polymorphism is defined as “an item with numerous forms.” Polymorphism is a concept that can enable an object’s ability to exhibit a number of behaviours. To put it another way, polymorphism is the ability of an item to be represented by more than one form.
To understand polymorphism, utilise an actual example from the real world. It is akin to how a person communicates with different people. As a husband, dad, boss, employee, son, and brother, among other relationships, a man may have with different people. This man is a representation of the item, and his interactions demonstrate how it can adopt a variety of other shapes and have wholly different characteristics.
This article will explain how polymorphism in C++ may be loosely classified into two groups based on the unique characteristics of each category. These groups consist of:
polymorphism during compilation
Runtime multimorphism.
Based on functionality, polymorphism can be divided into two groups:
At-Runtime Polymorphism
The process of figuring out how the definitions of distinct functions relate to the function calls they get at compile time is known as compile-time polymorphism. Other names for this type of polymorphism include static or early binding polymorphism. All of the compile-time polymorphism’s methods are called or invoked during compilation.
Compile-time polymorphism can be implemented in two different ways: by overloading functions and operators. Compile-time polymorphism is the process of giving the same name to a large number of methods or functions, each of which has a different set of parameters, signatures, and return types. Compile time polymorphism executes far more quickly than run-time polymorphism since all relevant functions are called at compile time.
Periodic Polymorphism
In runtime polymorphism, the function call that should be associated to the object is chosen by the compiler after it has been resolved at runtime. It is also known as dynamic or late binding polymorphism. This type of polymorphism is implemented via virtual functions and function overriding. Every runtime polymorphism method is used at runtime.
Method overriding refers to the pairing of different classes of the same structure with two or more functions that have the same name, arguments, and return type. This method performs a little more slowly than compile-time polymorphism since all necessary methods are invoked at run time. Runtime polymorphism is well recognised to handle complex Programmes better.
Polymorphism Compilation in C++
Function Overloading is one of the most common ways to compile polymorphism in C++.
Overloading of Functions
Function overloading is a key aspect of polymorphism in C++. When a function is given numerous tasks with the same function name, it gets overloaded. In other words, function overloading happens when you create two functions with the same name but different functions. Both functions should have the same return types and strictly different arguments from one another. At the moment of compile, it is finished. Function overloading is possible in both the base class and the derived class.
All of the overloaded functions have the same scope. Inheritance is not required in this situation because it is possible in both the base class and the derived class.
This article taught you everything there is to know about polymorphism in C++. Now that you know what polymorphism is, you can see why C++ requires it. Every aspect of polymorphism, including its uses, varieties, ways of implementation, and other essential concepts, were discussed in this article.
You looked into the usage of overloading for operators and functions to offer compile-time polymorphism. You also learnt how to construct run-time polymorphism using virtual functions and method overriding. Edureify offers comprehensive bootcamp coding lessons on many programming topics.
