Polymorphism in OOP 🎭

What is Polymorphism? 🤔

Polymorphism is an OOP principle that allows one method, function, or operator to behave differently based on the context. It enables code flexibility and reusability.

Real-Life Example 🌍:

A person 🧑 can have different roles:

• As a student, they study 📖.
• As a friend, they socialize 🗣️.
• As an employee, they work 💼.

Despite being the same person, they act differently in different situations. This is polymorphism!

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Types of Polymorphism 🔄

1️⃣ Compile-time Polymorphism (Method Overloading) 🏗️

Method overloading allows multiple methods in the same class to have the same name but with different parameters.

Example 📌:

class Calculator {
    int add(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }
    int add(int a, int b, int c) {
        return a + b + c;
    }
}

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Calculator calc = new Calculator();
        System.out.println(calc.add(5, 10));      // Output: 15
        System.out.println(calc.add(5, 10, 15));  // Output: 30
    }
}

2️⃣ Run-time Polymorphism (Method Overriding) 🎭

Method overriding allows a child class to provide a different implementation of a method that exists in the parent class.

Example 📌:

class Animal {
    void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Animal makes a sound");
    }
}
class Dog extends Animal {
    @Override
    void makeSound() {
        System.out.println("Dog barks");
    }
}
public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Animal myAnimal = new Dog();
        myAnimal.makeSound();  // Output: Dog barks
    }
}

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Method Overloading vs Method Overriding 🆚

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Why Use Polymorphism? 🤔

✅ Code Flexibility: The same function behaves differently based on input.
✅ Code Reusability: Methods can be reused with different parameters.
✅ Extensibility: New behaviors can be added without modifying existing code.

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Conclusion 🎯

Polymorphism makes OOP more flexible, reusable, and scalable. It allows the same code to work with different data types and behaviors, making it a key principle in software development! 🚀

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💬 Have you used polymorphism in your projects? Share your thoughts below!