Types of Polymorphism in C plus plus

C++ Polymorphism explained

Polymorphism is a Greek word implying "many forms". In C++ it implies that a particular function or operator may behave in different ways in different circumstances. The analogy of polymorphism in the real world would be the example of a human who at the same time is a father, a husband, and an employee, who shows one behavior here and the other one there. Such an idea is extended to functions and operators in C++. As an example, a + operator may both add two integer values or concatenate two String values, thus its polymorphic nature.

Polymorphism types

C++ policies polymorphism can be divided into two broad categories namely compile-time polymorphism and runtime polymorphism.

Compile-Time Polymorphism

The compile-time polymorphism, which was also referred to as a static polymorphism or early binding is a result which is performed by the compiling program. This kind of polymorphism decides how an operation or function will behave depending on the situation and such polymorphism is reached by way of the overloading of functions and overloading of operators. The correctness of the function or operator applied is determined by data types and number of parameters at the compile time.

Function Overloading

Function overloading enables a group of different functions to share a name however acting differently depending on the parameters. Overloading functions may occur in alteration of the number of arguments accepted, or the type of arguments accepted. This has the effect of allowing the same name to be used in different functions depending on the parameters it has been given. As an example, one might declare a type-generic add() function to add two integers or two floating-point numbers, and the compiler decides the version to invoke depending on the types of arguments. In the same way, print() could manage all types of information : an integer, a double, or a string.

Operator Overloading

Operator overloading provides special meanings of the particular data types with operators. This offers operators the opportunity to execute various operations depending on the kind of operands. As an example, in order to concatenate two strings, or to add two Complex objects that are user-defined, operator + can be overloaded. This facility provides the operators with extended functionality which is not specific to built in types, but it is with user defined classes.

Runtime Polymorphism

Dynamic polymorphism; also called late binding and sometimes runtime binding, is a technique of resolving calls to a function at run time instead of at compile time Function overriding with the use of virtual functions is the main way to achieve it. This is more flexible since during runtime the type of specific implementation of the function is decided on the actual type of object. A class that contains a declaration of inheritance of a virtual function is called a polymorphic class.

Function Overriding

Overriding of functions is the process that takes place to derive a class where a member with a certain specific implementation exists already in the base class, and the derived class then implements a different definition on its own. The base class function should be treated as a virtual function in order to make runtime polymorphism to occur. In the case where a pointer or reference to a base class object refers to an object of a derived class, and where a virtual function is called using that pointer or reference, the derived version of the function is called. This binding process of the choice of the function gives objects of the derived type the ability to directly call their version of the function giving it desired runtime polymorphism. As an example a display() method in a base class may be overridden by derived classes and more than one output may be produced according to the type of object at a runtime.

Virtual Functions

A virtual function is a member function of a base class which is meant to be redefined in a derived-class or overridden. Making a base-class function virtual permits the derived class to give its own flavor of the same, which is then invoked run time, depending on the real type of the object. Dynamic binding is important to realize when a call of the method is resolved at run time through virtual functions. This is what allows polymorphic behavior such that objects of various derived classes can be handled in a uniform manner via a shared-interface.This is declared in derived classes by using the override keyword, indicating that a particular function is overriding a virtual function within the base class. Pure virtual functions The pure virtual functions are the member functions that are specified as virtual but not defined; they are identified using =0. Abstract base classes may have pure virtual functions.

Uncodemy C++ Courses

Uncodemy is an information technology training center, which has different courses including C++ programming. Although the search results do not show a list of Uncodemy courses exactly named "C++ Polymorphism", it also states that there are exhaustive courses on C++ programming and higher skills on object-oriented programming methods presented through Uncodemy. Polymorphism, as a key concept in the C++ and object-oriented programming, would most probably be addressed in these courses. When it comes to the training and development industry, Uncodemy is one of the market leaders in different areas of technology that are being demanded.

Possible C++ classes at Uncodemy that would cover polymorphism could be:

C++: The course would probably form a solid background in the programming language C++ by covering basic concepts in this programming language such as object-oriented paradigms of polymorphism.

Advanced C++ Programming: In this course, more advanced concepts of C++ would be covered and would definitely involve in depth discussions along with practical examples of polymorphism and virtual functions and inheritance as well.

Objection-Oriented Programming (OOP) in C++: Since polymorphism is one of the key foundations of OOP, any OOP course offered with respect C++ would include large amounts of information on polymorphism.

These courses offer non-replicable skills to those aspiring software engineers and they include knowledge on basic concepts and advanced methods of developing software. It is hoped that everyone will visit the free C++ tutorials and the software engineering courses offered by Uncodemy and boost his or her studies in the world of programming.