Updated April 6, 2023
Definition of Polymorphism
- Before preceding to the Polymorphism Advantages, let us discuss about the concept of Polymorphism. Basically, Polymorphism can be defined in a programming term as a concept which reuses a single code many times.
- More precisely, it means that Polymorphism is the feature of a program for handling objects in a different way, subjecting to their data class or types. This technique of performing an action in several ways can be classified into two types:
- Compile-time Polymorphism: This static type can be attained by means of method overloading.
- Run-time Polymorphism: This dynamic type can be attained by means of method overriding along with virtual functions.
- Polymorphism Advantages offers programmers to apply the codes once written multiple times with easy debugging that saves them time and effort as well.
Advantages of Polymorphism
Polymorphism will only deliver you the advantages when you require this Polymorphism ability in your programming. We can explain further the term Polymorphism as the capacity of an object for accepting several data types.
Polymorphism is a vital feature of Oops’ Principles, i.e. of Object Oriented Principles. Moving towards its meaning, this term Polymorphism consists of two parts: the Greek words: poly meaning many and morphs meaning forms. In Java, the term Polymorphism is stated as an occurrence of an object which shows a property of executing logical and mathematical operations from different viewpoints.
Polymorphism comprises of two concepts named as Overloading and Overriding.
- In the method overloading technique, two or multiple methods inside the same class will share a distinct parameter list having the same name. Here, the methods overloaded may differ in the form or maybe the number of their related parameters. Many return forms can be congested. This also assists in overpowering the constructors.
- In the next technique of overriding, override methods are redefined within a subclass or an inherited one. Here, in the sub groups of separate process bodies in polymorphism overriding, they consist of a similar process signature.
- Hence, method overloading permits methods that act similar or thoroughly connected functions that can be retrieved through a common name. This supports you to define many constructors for controlling various types of initializations.
- Also, method overriding permits a subclass to use all the typical definitions that a subclass delivers and the addition of specified definitions by means of overridden methods.
- With this two forms of Polymorphism, there are the types of Polymorphism as Static: Compile-Time and Dynamic: Run Time.
- Static Polymorphism is determined during compile time which helps to reach the concept of method overloading providing many benefits to the developers to apply many varying methods within the same class.
- Dynamic Polymorphism is determined during the run time, which helps to reach the concept of method overriding, providing various implementation with the method with the same name in the superclass.
Polymorphism is different from Inheritance, as inheritance describes the act of inheriting another class, but Polymorphism clarifies what objects achieve if objects consist of a superclass. Hence, Polymorphism is the other pillar of OOP (Object Oriented Programming) that permits these two method techniques of overloading and overriding. We get reusable and thereby clean program codes as a user is intended in the concept of OOP. This Polymorphism principle is greatly associated with some other OOP principles such as Inheritance, Encapsulation and Abstraction, so reconsidering them may aid in enhanced recognizing of the concept of Polymorphism and its advantages.
For instance, let us take an illustration from real life to comprehend the polymorphism: suppose there is a person who plays different roles at the same time. This means he is a father, brother, son, husband, employee, and friend. This single person owns several behaviours existing in various situations.
Let us discuss some features of Polymorphism:
- The functionality of a method performs differently in various scenarios.
- Depending on the data provided, the behaviour of the method changes.
- It permits a similar name for a member of the method in a class with several types.
- It supports implicit type conversion.
We can list a few of the advantages of Polymorphism as follows:
- It assists the developer to reprocess the program codes. It means that the old codes and classes written once confirmed and executed can be reused as necessary, which saves a programmer’s time. Thereby these codes and related classes may be relevant to several other methods.
- Only one variable can be applied for storing multiple data types such as Int, Float, Double, Long, etc. It makes it easier to search and implement these types of variables used by the users.
- Simple debugging the code.
- It helps to maintain and diminish the coupling between various functionalities.
- Offers flexibility to the programmers to write programs which uses only one method for many executions on the basis of need. Here, thereby agreeing on the interface type, this method can perform inversely for different inputs.
- It offers one of the greatest advantages: it permits the programming code to extend itself to make use of the previous program and save the developers’ time and effort.
- This technique is the core theory of OOPs languages which is also applied for programming different forms of big execution of codes.
- This Polymorphism feature allows programming to become faster and resourceful to develop codes.
- Polymorphism advantages say it is inherently good that reduces coupling and maximizing reusability to code a readable program. The performance may be a little hampered in a few cases using polymorphism, but it should not be considered that we need not apply it. It helps code maintenance and easy for reading later stored in a structured way.
Conclusion – Polymorphism Advantages
- This is a concept of object-oriented programming language, which states a programming language capability to execute objects on the basis of their data types or class.
- Polymorphism is so associated to Inheritance, so to better understand the Polymorphism and its related advantages, we need to study Inheritance initially. It is useful to implement Inheritance.
- Therefore, generally, we can say that Polymorphism advantages give us the coding ability for the derived classes for redefining methods.
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