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In computing, late binding or dynamic linkage [1] —though not an identical process to dynamically linking imported code libraries—is a computer programming mechanism in which the method being called upon an object, or the function being called with arguments, is looked up by name at runtime.
The purpose of dynamic dispatch is to defer the selection of an appropriate implementation until the run time type of a parameter (or multiple parameters) is known. Dynamic dispatch is different from late binding (also known as dynamic binding). Name binding associates a name with an operation. A polymorphic operation has several ...
In computer programming, a virtual method table (VMT), virtual function table, virtual call table, dispatch table, vtable, or vftable is a mechanism used in a programming language to support dynamic dispatch (or run-time method binding).
Dynamic binding (or late binding or virtual binding) is name binding performed as the program is running. [2] An example of a static binding is a direct C function call: the function referenced by the identifier cannot change at runtime. An example of dynamic binding is dynamic dispatch, as in a C++ virtual method call.
In object-oriented programming, dynamic dispatch selects an object method at runtime, though whether the actual name binding is done at compile time or run time depends on the language. De facto dynamic scope is common in macro languages , which do not directly do name resolution, but instead expand in place.
Delegation is dependent upon dynamic binding, as it requires that a given method call can invoke different segments of code at runtime [citation needed]. It is used throughout macOS (and its predecessor NeXTStep ) as a means of customizing the behavior of program components. [ 3 ]
Multiple dispatch or multimethods is a feature of some programming languages in which a function or method can be dynamically dispatched based on the run-time (dynamic) type or, in the more general case, some other attribute of more than one of its arguments. [1]
The previous section notwithstanding, there are other ways in which ad hoc polymorphism can work out. Consider for example the Smalltalk language. In Smalltalk, the overloading is done at run time, as the methods ("function implementation") for each overloaded message ("overloaded function") are resolved when they are about to be executed.