Polymorphism (computer science)

In programming language theory and type theory, polymorphism allows a value or variable to have more than one type and allows a given operation to be performed on values of more than one type. In object-oriented programming, polymorphism is the provision of one interface to entities of different data types. The concept is borrowed from a principle in biology in which an organism or species can have many different forms or stages. The most commonly recognized major forms of polymorphism are: Ad hoc polymorphism: defines a common interface for an arbitrary set of individually specified types. Parametric polymorphism: does not specify concrete types and instead uses abstract symbols that can substitute for any type. Subtyping (also called subtype polymorphism or inclusion polymorphism): when a name denotes instances of many different classes related by a common superclass.