Polimorphism

INTRODUCTION

Polimorphism means that the same function name can be used for different types. This makes programming more intuitive and easier.

def times(x, y):
    """Return the product of arguments."""
    # The arguments should support the * operator (the __mul__ method).
    return x * y

times(2, 3)                   # 6, int * int
times(2, 3.14)                # 6.28, int * float
times("Bum!", 3)              # "Bum!Bum!Bum!", str * int

# Polymorphic len() function.
# Based on the __len__ method.

len("Python")                      # 6, the length of a string
len(["Python", "C++", "Java"])     # 3, the number of items
len({"Name": "Adam", "Age": 30})   # 2, the number of keys
len(set([1, 3, 5, 7]))             # 4, the number of elements

Polymorphism is a very important concept in Object-Oriented Programming. Polymorphism in class methods: different (unrelated) classes can have a method with the same name.