What is the purpose of polymorphism in C# and how is it implemented?
What is the purpose of polymorphism in C# and how is it implemented?
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02-Jul-2023
Aryan Kumar
04-Jul-2023In C#, polymorphism is the ability to use a variable of one type to refer to an object of another type. This is possible because C# supports inheritance, which allows classes to inherit from other classes.
Polymorphism is implemented in C# using the
isandaskeywords. Theiskeyword can be used to check if a variable is of a particular type. Theaskeyword can be used to cast a variable to a different type.For example, the following code defines a class
Animaland a derived classDog:C#
The following code creates a variable of type
Animaland assigns it to an object of typeDog:C#
The
animalvariable is now of typeAnimal, but it is also pointing to an object of typeDog. This is becauseDoginherits fromAnimal.The following code uses the
iskeyword to check if theanimalvariable is of typeDog:C#
The
isDogvariable will betruebecause theanimalvariable is pointing to an object of typeDog.The following code uses the
askeyword to cast theanimalvariable to a typeDog:C#
If the
animalvariable is actually of typeDog, thedogvariable will be assigned the value of theanimalvariable. Otherwise, thedogvariable will benull.Polymorphism is a powerful feature that can be used to make code more flexible and reusable. It can be used to create generic code that can work with objects of different types.