[Tutor] constructors

[Alexandre Ratti]

Hello,


At 05:33 12/04/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>From: Prahlad Vaidyanathan <slime@vsnl.net>
>Subject: Re: [Tutor] constructors
>Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 04:29:25 -0400

> > Since Python is loosely/weakly/dynamically typed, does initializing
> > really matter a great deal?  Or is it just to allow us to use
> > polymorphism in a later method (by not requiring that later method to
>
>Ok, taking the risk of sounding *very* duh,
>
>     What does polymorphism mean ?
>
>Going by it's name, it probably involves changing something (method,
>variable, etc.) many times. Is this the same as over-riding a method of
>the base class during inheritance ?

Here is a definition I came across:

<QUOTE>
Generally, the ability to appear in many forms. In object-oriented 
programming, polymorphism refers to a programming language's ability to 
process objects differently depending on their data type or class. More 
specifically, it is the ability to redefine methods for derived classes. 
For example, given a base class shape, polymorphism enables the programmer 
to define different circumference methods for any number of derived 
classes, such as circles, rectangles and triangles. No matter what shape an 
object is, applying the circumference method to it will return the correct 
results. Polymorphism is considered to be a requirement of any true 
object-oriented programming language (OOPL).
The type of polymorphism described above is sometimes called parametric 
polymorphism to distinguish it from another type of polymorphism called 
overloading.
</QUOTE>

Source: http://webopedia.lycos.com/TERM/P/polymorphism.html

See also: http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/chap14.htm#9


Cheers.

Alexandre