What does polymorphism enable in OOP?

Polymorphism is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. This capability enhances the flexibility and scalability of a program, as it enables developers to write more general and reusable code.

With polymorphism, a program can invoke methods on objects without needing to know their specific types at compile time. Instead, it can rely on the common interface provided by their superclass. For example, if multiple subclasses extend a base class and override its methods, polymorphism allows for calling these overridden methods through a reference of the base class type. This promotes a design where different objects can be handled uniformly, leading to cleaner code and easier maintenance.

Furthermore, polymorphism supports dynamic method resolution, meaning that the appropriate method is determined at runtime based on the actual object being referenced. This characteristic is essential for implementing design patterns such as Strategy or State, where the behavior can change dynamically without altering the codebase significantly.

The other options describe aspects that are related to but do not encapsulate the essence of polymorphism. For instance, while method overloading can occur in OOP, it does not invoke the concept of treating different classes uniformly under a common interface, which is central to the notion