What is polymorphism?
Polymorphism gives us the ultimate flexibility in extensibility. Polymorphism is a term that describes a situation where one name may refer to different methods. In java there are two type of polymorphism: overloading type and overriding type. When you override methods, java determines the proper methods to call at the program’s run time, not at the compile time. Overriding occurs when a class method has the same name and signature as a method in parent class. Overloading occurs when several methods have same names with different method signature. Overloading is determined at the compile time.
Polymorphism is a ubiquitous concept in object-oriented programming and is defined in many ways, so many definitions are presented from: Websters’, Author, Strachey, Cardelli and Wegner, Booch, Meyer, Stroustrup, and Rumbaugh. Polymorphism is often considered the most powerful facility of an OOPL.
