What is polymorphism, what is it for, and how is it used?

Question

What is polymorphism, what is it for, and how is it used?

Answer 1

Usually this refers the the ability for an object of type A to behave like an object of type B. In object oriented programming this is usually achieve by inheritance. Some wikipedia links to read more:

• Polymorphism in object oriented programming
• Type polymorphism

EDIT: fixed broken links.