Hello Jetto Net followers!

Welcome to our Java Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) series. In our previous post, we explored inheritance, which allows a class to inherit properties and behaviors from another class. In this post, we will delve into one of the most flexible and dynamic features of OOP: polymorphism. Polymorphism enables objects to exhibit different behaviors in different situations, making our code more flexible, extensible, and understandable.

What is Polymorphism?

Polymorphism is technically defined as the ability of a superclass reference to hold objects of its subclasses. As known, objects of a subclass inherit the methods of the superclass (except those defined as static and final). For example, it is possible to see methods of the Object class on an object you create. This feature allows polymorphism to use subclass objects with a superclass reference. The advantage here is that we do not need to know which class's object is used while performing an operation.

Types of Polymorphism

There are two types of Polymorphism in Java:

1. Compile-Time Polymorphism: This type of polymorphism is achieved through method overloading. By defining multiple methods with the same name but different parameter lists, the compiler determines which method to call.
2. Runtime Polymorphism: This type of polymorphism is achieved through method overriding (see). A method in the superclass is redefined in a subclass with a different implementation. The method to be called is determined at runtime based on the actual type of the object.

Benefits of Polymorphism

• Flexibility: It allows our code to work with different objects.
• Extensibility: We can easily extend our existing code by adding new classes.
• Code Readability: It makes our code more understandable and organized.

Conclusion

Polymorphism is one of the most powerful features of object-oriented programming in Java. By using polymorphism, we can write more flexible, extensible, and readable code. In our next post, we will continue to explore other important concepts of OOP. Stay tuned!

You can share your questions or opinions in the comments section. Happy coding!