---
title: "Explain the concepts of static and dynamic polymorphism in C++."  
description: "Explain the concepts of static and dynamic polymorphism in C++."  
author: "Revati S Misra"  
published: 2023-08-04  
updated: 2023-08-06  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159472/explain-the-concepts-of-static-and-dynamic-polymorphism-in-c-plus-plus  
category: "visual c++"  
tags: ["oops", "c++", "polymorphism"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# Explain the concepts of static and dynamic polymorphism in C++.

[Explain the concepts](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159981/explain-the-concepts-of-microservices-architecture-in-node-js-can-be-used-in-a-microservices-system) of [static](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12098/the-static-keyword-the-static-methods) and [dynamic](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/11080/features-of-java-dynamic-complied-and-interpreted) [polymorphism](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1827/objective-c-polymorphism) in C++.

## Replies

### Reply by Aryan Kumar

Sure. Polymorphism is the ability of an object to take on different forms. In C++, there are two types of polymorphism: static polymorphism and dynamic polymorphism.

**Static polymorphism** is also known as **compile-time polymorphism**. It is achieved by using function overloading and operator overloading.

- **Function overloading** allows you to have multiple functions with the same name, but with different parameters. The compiler will choose the correct function to call based on the types of the arguments that are passed in.
- **Operator overloading** allows you to give new meaning to existing operators. This can be useful for making code more concise and readable, or for providing new functionality to user-defined types.

**Dynamic polymorphism** is also known as **runtime polymorphism**. It is achieved by using virtual functions.

- **Virtual functions** are functions that can be overridden in derived classes. When a virtual function is called, the compiler will not know which version of the function to call until runtime. The version of the function that is called will be determined by the type of the object that the function is called on.

Dynamic polymorphism is more flexible than static polymorphism, but it is also more complex. It is important to use dynamic polymorphism carefully, as it can make code more difficult to understand and debug.

Here is a table summarizing the differences between static and dynamic polymorphism:

| Feature | Static polymorphism | Dynamic polymorphism |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Also known as | Compile-time polymorphism | Runtime polymorphism |
| Achieved by | Function overloading and operator overloading | Virtual functions |
| Flexibility | Less flexible | More flexible |
| Complexity | Less complex | More complex |


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