What is the difference between inheritance and polymorphism?

What is the difference between inheritance and polymorphism?

Inheritance is a mechanism where a new class derives properties and behavior from an existing class. Polymorphism allows methods to do different things based on the object it is acting upon.

Can you give me an example of inheritance?

Sure! In a class hierarchy, if you have a base class called 'Animal' and a derived class called 'Dog', the 'Dog' class inherits properties like 'name' and 'age' from 'Animal'.

And how does polymorphism work in this context?

Polymorphism allows the 'Dog' class to implement a method like 'makeSound()' differently than another derived class, like 'Cat'. So, calling 'makeSound()' on a 'Dog' would return 'Bark', while on a 'Cat' it would return 'Meow'.

Are there different types of polymorphism?

Yes, there are two main types: compile-time polymorphism (method overloading) and runtime polymorphism (method overriding).