Polymorphism
1
Agenda
● What is and Why Polymorphism?
● Examples of Polymorphism in Java programs
● 3 forms of Polymorphism
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What is & Why
Polymorphism?
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What is Polymorphism?
● Generally, polymorphism refers to the ability
to appear in many forms
● Polymorphism in a Java program
– The ability of a reference variable to change
behavior according to what object instance it is
holding.
– This allows multiple objects of different subclasses
to be treated as objects of a single super class,
while automatically selecting the proper methods to
apply to a particular object based on the subclass it
belongs to
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Polymorphism Example
● For example, given a base class shape,
polymorphism enables the programmer to define
different area methods for any number of derived
classes, such as circles, rectangles and
triangles.
● No matter what shape an object is, applying the
area method to it will return the correct results.
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Examples of
Polymorphic Behavior
in Java Programs
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Example #1: Polymorphism
● Given the parent class Personand the child class
Student, we add another subclass of Person
which is Employee.
● Below is the class hierarchy
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Example #1: Polymorphism
● In Java, we can create a reference that is of type
super class, Person, to an object of its subclass,
Student.
public static main( String[] args ) {
Student studentObject = new Student();
Employee employeeObject = new Employee();
Person ref = studentObject; // Person reference points
// to a Student object
// Calling getName() of the Student object instance
String name = ref.getName();
}
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Example #1: Polymorphism
● Now suppose we have a getName method in our
super class Person, and we override this method
in both Student and Employee subclass's
public class Student {
public String getName(){
System.out.println(“Student Name:” + name);
return name;
}
}
public class Employee {
public String getName(){
System.out.println(“Employee Name:” + name);
return name;
}
} 9
Example #1: Polymorphism
● Going back to our main method, when we try to
call the getNamemethod of the reference Person
ref, the getNamemethod of the Studentobject will
be called.
● Now, if we assign ref to an Employeeobject, the
getNamemethod of Employeewill be called.
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Example #1: Polymorphism
1 public static main( String[] args ) {
2
3 Student studentObject = new Student();
4 Employee employeeObject = new Employee();
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6 Person ref = studentObject; //Person ref. points to a
7 // Student object
8
9 // getName() method of Student class is called
10 String temp= ref.getName();
11 System.out.println( temp );
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13 ref = employeeObject; //Person ref. points to an
14 // Employee object
15
16 //getName() method of Employee class is called
17 String temp = ref.getName();
18 System.out.println( temp );
19 }
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Example #2: Polymorphism
● Another example that illustrates polymorphism is
when we try to pass a reference to methods as a
parameter
● Suppose we have a static method
printInformation that takes in a Person reference
as parameter.
public static printInformation( Person p ){
// It will call getName() method of the
// actual object instance that is passed
p.getName();
}
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Example #2: Polymorphism
● We can actually pass a reference of type Employee
and type Student to the printInformation method as
long as it is a subclass of the Person class.
public static main( String[] args ){
Student studentObject = new Student();
Employee employeeObject = new Employee();
printInformation( studentObject );
printInformation( employeeObject );
}
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Benefits of
Polymorphism
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Benefits of Polymorphism
● Simplicity
– If you need to write code that deals with a family of
types, the code can ignore type-specific details and just
interact with the base type of the family
– Even though the code thinks it is using an object of
the base class, the object's class could actually be
the base class or any one of its subclasses
– This makes your code easier for you to write and
easier for others to understand
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Benefits of Polymorphism
● Extensibility
– Other subclasses could be added later to the family
of types, and objects of those new subclasses would
also work with the existing code
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3 For m s of
Polymorphism
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3 Forms of Polymorphism
in Java program
● Method overriding
– Methods of a subclass override the methods
of a superclass
● Method overriding (implementation) of the
abstract methods
– Methods of a subclass implement the abstract
methods of an abstract class
● Method overriding (implementation) through the
Java interface
– Methods of a concrete class implement the methods
of the interface
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Polymorphism
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