Exploring Polymorphism in Ruby OOP

Greetings! In today's lesson, we'll delve into the concept of polymorphism in Ruby's Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). Understanding polymorphism empowers us to use a single entity (a method, class, or module) to represent different behaviors in various scenarios. Let's proceed.

Polymorphism, a fundamental principle of OOP, allows one object to appear in multiple forms. Imagine a button in software; depending on its type (for example, a submit button or a radio button), the action resulting from pressing it can differ. This flexibility embodies the essence of polymorphism!

Let's explore polymorphism through a simple application involving shapes. The base Shape class will have an area method, which calculates the area for shapes. This method will be uniquely implemented in the subclasses Rectangle and Circle.

class Shape
  def area
    raise 'NotImplementedError'
  end
end

class Rectangle < Shape
  def initialize(length, width)
    @length = length
    @width = width
  end

  def area
    @length * @width
  end
end

class Circle < Shape
  def initialize(radius)
    @radius = radius
  end

  def area
    3.14 * @radius * @radius
  end
end

shapes = [Rectangle.new(2, 3), Circle.new(5)]
shapes.each do |shape|
  puts shape.area
end
# Output: 6
# Output: 78.5

Here, polymorphism shines as the area method adopts multiple forms and behaves differently depending on whether it's part of a Rectangle or a Circle.

Polymorphism is invaluable when working with inheritance, as a single action can exhibit different behaviors for different object types, streamlining the code while enhancing readability and maintainability.

Great job! We've now learned about polymorphism, observed its implementation, and discovered its applications within Ruby. Prepare for hands-on practice tasks, apply what you've learned, and excel in Ruby programming. Happy coding!