What is polymorphism in Ruby?

What is polymorphism in Ruby?

Polymorphism in Ruby allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. It enables methods to be defined in a way that they can operate on objects of different types.

Can you give me an example of polymorphism in Ruby?

Sure! Here's a simple example: If you have a class Animal with a method speak, and subclasses Dog and Cat that implement speak differently, you can call speak on an Animal reference that points to either a Dog or a Cat.

How does this differ from inheritance?

Inheritance is about creating a new class based on an existing class, while polymorphism allows methods to be used interchangeably across different classes, enhancing flexibility.

Are there any drawbacks to using polymorphism?

One drawback is that it can make the code harder to understand if overused, as it may not be clear which method is being called without looking at the object type.