Polymorphism and Virtual Functions
Learn how polymorphism and virtual functions allow you to treat different derived class objects uniformly through base class pointers while enabling each to perform its unique behavior at runtime. Understand compile-time versus runtime polymorphism, the role of virtual functions, and pure virtual functions to enforce interfaces and promote flexible, maintainable C++ code.
We'll cover the following...
Imagine we are creating a software system for a zoo. In this system, we need to manage different types of animals, such as lions, tigers, and bears. They all share some common characteristics, but each animal also has its own unique behaviors, like eating, sleeping, and making sounds. However, we want to handle all animals in a generic way. But how can we do this?
This is where polymorphism comes into play. Polymorphism allows us to create a common interface for all objects (animals). This enables us to manage these objects as if they were of the same type while also allowing each animal to exhibit its own specific behavior.
What is polymorphism?
Polymorphism is one of the core concepts of OOP that allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common base class. It’s like having a generic term that can represent different specific things.
The term polymorphism means the ability to take many forms. It occurs if there is a hierarchy of classes that are all related to each other by inheritance.
There are two basic types of polymorphism:
Compile-time polymorphism: ...