多态性是:

class Cup {
   int capacity
}

class TeaCup : Cup {
   string flavour
}

class CoffeeCup : Cup {
   string brand
}

Cup c = new CoffeeCup();

public int measure(Cup c) {
    return c.capacity
}

你可以只传递一个Cup而不是一个特定的实例。这在一般情况下很有帮助，因为您不必为每个cup类型提供特定的measure()实例

从理解和应用PHP多态性，感谢Steve Guidetti。

Polymorphism is a long word for a very simple concept. Polymorphism describes a pattern in object oriented programming in which classes have different functionality while sharing a common interface. The beauty of polymorphism is that the code working with the different classes does not need to know which class it is using since they’re all used the same way. A real world analogy for polymorphism is a button. Everyone knows how to use a button: you simply apply pressure to it. What a button “does,” however, depends on what it is connected to and the context in which it is used — but the result does not affect how it is used. If your boss tells you to press a button, you already have all the information needed to perform the task. In the programming world, polymorphism is used to make applications more modular and extensible. Instead of messy conditional statements describing different courses of action, you create interchangeable objects that you select based on your needs. That is the basic goal of polymorphism.

通常这指的是A类型对象的行为与b类型对象相似的能力。在面向对象编程中，这通常是通过继承来实现的。一些维基百科的链接来阅读更多:

面向对象编程中的多态性 类型多态性

编辑:固定破碎的链接。

我正在浏览另一篇完全不同的文章。多态性出现了……现在我认为我知道多态性是什么....但显然不是用这种美丽的方式解释的。想把它写在某个地方。更好的是分享它…)

http://www.eioba.com/a/1htn/how-i-explained-rest-to-my-wife

从这部分开始阅读:

…多态性。这是一种很奇怪的说法，不同的名词可以有相同的动词。

在面向对象语言中，多态性允许通过同一个接口处理和处理不同的数据类型。例如，考虑c++中的继承: 类B派生自类A。类型为A*的指针(指向类A的指针)可以用来处理类A的对象和类B的对象。

多态性是一个对象具有多种形式的能力。在OOP中，多态性最常见的用法是用父类引用引用子类对象。在这个用Java编写的例子中，我们有三种类型的车辆。我们创建了三个不同的对象，并尝试运行他们的轮子方法:

public class PolymorphismExample {

    public static abstract class Vehicle
    {
        public int wheels(){
            return 0;
        }
    }

    public static class Bike extends Vehicle
    {
        @Override
        public int wheels()
        {
            return 2;
        }
    }

    public static class Car extends Vehicle
    {
        @Override
        public int wheels()
        {
            return 4;
        }
    }

    public static class Truck extends Vehicle
    {
        @Override
        public int wheels()
        {
            return 18;
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Vehicle bike = new Bike();
        Vehicle car = new Car();
        Vehicle truck = new Truck();

        System.out.println("Bike has "+bike.wheels()+" wheels");
        System.out.println("Car has "+car.wheels()+" wheels");
        System.out.println("Truck has "+truck.wheels()+" wheels");
    }

}

结果是:

欲了解更多信息，请访问https://github.com/m-vahidalizadeh/java_advanced/blob/master/src/files/PolymorphismExample.java。我希望这能有所帮助。