Arizona State University (ASU) CSE240 Introduction to Programming Languages Midterm Practice Exam

Polymorphism in programming is defined as the ability of different classes to be treated as instances of the same class through a common interface. This concept allows methods to use objects of different classes interchangeably, as long as these classes share a common interface or base class. By leveraging polymorphism, programs can be designed to handle objects of different types in a uniform way, thus enhancing flexibility and reusability of code.

For instance, if multiple classes implement a specific method defined in an interface, any code that utilizes that interface can invoke the method on any of the implementing classes without knowing the specific type of object it is dealing with. This is especially useful in scenarios like collections or frameworks where the exact type of the objects is not known until runtime.

The other options touch on related concepts, but they don't capture the essence of polymorphism as accurately. The ability to instantiate multiple classes from a single base class pertains more to inheritance, while data sharing between classes focuses on collaboration, and combining classes is related to class composition or inheritance but does not convey the concept of treating different objects uniformly.