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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.
Polymorphism can be distinguished by when the implementation is selected: statically (at compile time) or dynamically (at run time, typically via a virtual function). This is known respectively as static dispatch and dynamic dispatch, and the corresponding forms of polymorphism are accordingly called static polymorphism and dynamic polymorphism.
This is done by using traditional polymorphism while also casting the argument to dynamic. [3] The run-time binder will choose the appropriate method overload at run-time. This decision will take into consideration the run-time type of the object instance (polymorphism) as well as the run-time type of the argument.
If there are base class methods overridden by the derived class, the method actually called by such a reference or pointer can be bound (linked) either "early" (by the compiler), according to the declared type of the pointer or reference, or "late" (i.e., by the runtime system of the language), according to the actual type of the object is ...
The Java class loader, part of the Java Runtime Environment, dynamically loads Java classes into the Java Virtual Machine. [1] Usually classes are only loaded on demand . The virtual machine will only load the class files required for executing the program. [ 2 ]
Polymorphism (computer science), the ability in programming to present the same programming interface for differing underlying forms; Ad hoc polymorphism, applying polymorphic functions to arguments of different types; Parametric polymorphism, abstracts types, so that multiple can be used with a single implementation
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. Since the specific type of a polymorphic object is
A popular example of a badly considered design is containers of top types, [citation needed] like the Java containers before Java generics were introduced, which requires downcasting of the contained objects so that they can be used again.