9.6 EXTRA: Polymorphism

Polymorphism is the ability of different objects to be treated through the same interface, while each object can respond in its own way to the same method call. It comes from the Greek for “many shapes,” meaning that a single method or variable can take on multiple forms depending on the object it’s acting on. In practical terms, polymorphism lets you write code that works with general types (like a parent class) but uses the specific behavior of subclasses at runtime.