Polymorphism is "same behavior, different implementations" in Java, which allows an interface or method to be expressed in multiple forms. ① The premise of polymorphism is that there is an inheritance relationship; ② The subclass must rewrite the parent class's method. For example, variables of type Animal can point to Dog or Cat objects, and call the sound() method implemented by each to output different results. Polymorphism is often used to uniformly handle different subclass objects and improve code scalability and maintenance. However, its limitations include the inability to access unique members of the subclass, the inability to apply to variables and static methods, etc. The essence of polymorphism is dynamic binding at runtime, and determines which method to call based on the actual object, thereby enhancing code flexibility.
Polymorphism is a core concept in Java object-oriented programming, which allows an interface or method to be expressed in multiple forms. Simply put, it is "same behavior, different implementations".

What is polymorphism?
In Java, polymorphism means that an object can have multiple forms. The most common example is that the object of the subclass can be used as a variable of the parent class. For example, you can use an Animal
variable to point to a Dog
object or Cat
object, and use this variable to call their respective implementation methods.
Two prerequisites for polymorphism
- Inheritance relationship : There must be inheritance between parent and child classes.
- Method override : Subclasses need to override the parent class's methods so that they can show different behaviors.
For example:

class Animal { void sound() { System.out.println("Animal makes a sound"); } } class Dog extends Animal { void sound() { System.out.println("Bark"); } } class Cat extends Animal { void sound() { System.out.println("Meow"); } }
In this way, when you use Animal
type variables to refer to instances of Dog
or Cat
, calling sound()
method will automatically execute the implementation of the corresponding subclass.
Practical application scenarios of polymorphism
Polymorphism is most commonly used in the following situations:

- When you have a set of objects with a common parent class, but want them to perform different operations.
- Store different types of subclass objects in the collection class and process them uniformly.
- Write common code to improve scalability and maintenance.
For example:
Animal myDog = new Dog(); Animal myCat = new Cat(); myDog.sound(); // Output Bark myCat.sound(); // Output Meow
This shows that which method is actually called is determined by the object itself, not the variable type.
Limitations of polymorphism
Although polymorphism is powerful, there are some limitations to pay attention to:
- Parent class variables cannot access methods and properties unique to subclasses.
- Polymorphism is mainly aimed at method calls and is not suitable for variable access (that is, member variables will not be "polymorphic").
- Constructors, static methods, and private methods cannot be rewritten, and therefore cannot reflect runtime polymorphism.
How to understand the nature of polymorphism?
Polymorphism can be regarded as a way for Java to implement "runtime binding". Only when the program is running will determine which method to call based on the actual object type created. This mechanism makes the code more flexible and easier to expand.
Basically that's it. The core of mastering polymorphism lies in understanding the combination of inheritance and method rewriting, as well as the mechanism of dynamic binding at runtime.
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