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In computer science, dynamic dispatch is the process of selecting which implementation of a polymorphic operation (method or function) to call at run time. It is commonly employed in, and considered a prime characteristic of, object-oriented programming (OOP) languages and systems.
An object's virtual method table will contain the addresses of the object's dynamically bound methods. Method calls are performed by fetching the method's address from the object's virtual method table. The virtual method table is the same for all objects belonging to the same class, and is therefore typically shared between them.
This is a generalization of single-dispatch polymorphism where a function or method call is dynamically dispatched based on the derived type of the object on which the method has been called. Multiple dispatch routes the dynamic dispatch to the implementing function or method using the combined characteristics of one or more arguments.
Currently, it is popular to use the term late binding in Java programming as a synonym for dynamic dispatch. Specifically, this refers to Java's single dispatch mechanism used with virtual methods. Finally, Java can use late binding using its reflection APIs and type introspection much in the same way it is done in COM and .NET programming ...
The call is therefore subject to all the usual additional performance costs that are associated with dynamic resolution of calls, usually more than in a language supporting only single method dispatch. In C++, for example, a dynamic function call is usually resolved by a single offset calculation - which is possible because the compiler knows ...
And even if methods owned by the base class call the virtual method, they will instead be calling the derived method. Overloading occurs when two or more methods in one class have the same method name but different parameters. Overriding means having two methods with the same method name and parameters. Overloading is also referred to as ...
In computer science, message passing is a technique for invoking behavior (i.e., running a program) on a computer.The invoking program sends a message to a process (which may be an actor or object) and relies on that process and its supporting infrastructure to then select and run some appropriate code.
This contrasts with dynamic dispatch, which is based on runtime information (such as vtable pointers and other forms of run time type information). Static dispatch is possible because there is a guarantee of there only ever being a single implementation of the method in question.