Abstraction and polymorphism are two important concepts in the world of programming. They are often used interchangeably, but in reality, they are two distinct concepts with unique characteristics and purposes. In this article, we will delve deeper into the distinction between abstraction and polymorphism and understand how they play a crucial role in object-oriented programming.
Abstraction is the process of hiding unnecessary details and only exposing the essential features of an object. It is the foundation of object-oriented programming and one of its core principles. In simpler terms, abstraction allows us to focus on the essential aspects of an object and ignore the irrelevant ones. This helps in creating more efficient, maintainable, and scalable code.
To understand abstraction better, let's take the example of a car. A car has various components such as an engine, wheels, brakes, and steering wheel. In the context of abstraction, we would only focus on the functionalities of these components and not the inner workings. For instance, we would know that the engine is responsible for powering the car, the wheels allow it to move, and the brakes help in stopping it. We don't need to know how these components work internally; we can just use them as per their intended purpose. This is the power of abstraction.
On the other hand, polymorphism is the ability of an object to take on different forms. In simpler terms, it means that an object can have multiple behaviors depending on the context in which it is used. Polymorphism allows us to reuse the same code for different objects, making our code more flexible and adaptable.
To illustrate polymorphism, let's consider the example of a shape. A shape can be a circle, square, triangle, or any other geometrical figure. Each of these shapes has its own unique properties and methods, but they all inherit from a parent class called "shape." This allows us to treat all these shapes as one and perform common operations on them, such as calculating their area or perimeter. This is the essence of polymorphism.
Now that we have understood the basic definitions of abstraction and polymorphism let's take a closer look at their differences. The main difference between the two is that abstraction is about hiding unnecessary details, while polymorphism is about allowing an object to take on multiple forms. Another significant difference is that abstraction is a design principle, whereas polymorphism is a programming technique.
Abstraction is used to create a high-level view of a system, whereas polymorphism is used to implement that design. In simple terms, abstraction is the blueprint, while polymorphism is the actual construction. Both these concepts work hand in hand to create efficient and robust object-oriented systems.
To further understand the distinction between abstraction and polymorphism, let's take an example from the animal kingdom. Think of animals as objects, each with its unique properties and behaviors. If we were to create a program that deals with different animals, we would use abstraction to define a parent class "animal" and then create subclasses for each specific animal type. These subclasses would have their own unique properties and behaviors, but they would all inherit from the "animal" class. This is abstraction in action.
Now, let's consider the concept of polymorphism in the same example. Say we have a method called "makeSound" in our "animal" class. When we call this method for a specific animal, say a dog, it would bark, for a cat, it would meow, and for a bird, it would chir
