[Tutor] constructors

Prahlad Vaidyanathan slime@vsnl.net
Fri, 12 Apr 2002 10:45:25 -0400


Hi,

On Fri, 12 Apr 2002 Alexandre Ratti spewed into the ether:
[-- snippity --]
> Here is a definition I came across:
> 
> <QUOTE>
> Generally, the ability to appear in many forms. In object-oriented 
> programming, polymorphism refers to a programming language's ability to 
> process objects differently depending on their data type or class. More 
> specifically, it is the ability to redefine methods for derived classes. 

Ok, this is what I had guessed.

> For example, given a base class shape, polymorphism enables the programmer 
> to define different circumference methods for any number of derived 
> classes, such as circles, rectangles and triangles. No matter what shape an 
> object is, applying the circumference method to it will return the correct 
> results. Polymorphism is considered to be a requirement of any true 
> object-oriented programming language (OOPL).
> The type of polymorphism described above is sometimes called parametric 
> polymorphism to distinguish it from another type of polymorphism called 
> overloading.

Overloading, I presume, is redifining the double-underscore methods,
like __setitem__, __len__, etc ?

Thanks !

pv.
-- 
Prahlad Vaidyanathan  <http://www.symonds.net/~prahladv/>

I know the answer!  The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!
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