Multiple dispatch
Multiple dispatch is a method-selection mechanism that chooses an implementation based on the types of multiple arguments.
Julia as a Second Language
Multiple dispatch is a method-selection mechanism that chooses an operation implementation based on the types of all dispatched arguments.
- How it is used
- Selects behavior for game-combat operations according to both participants’ types.
- How deep it goes
- Works through method signatures, inspection, missing-method errors, and runtime selection without detailing dispatch implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses REPL battles between archers and knights, a missing knight-versus-knight method, and a battle outcome function.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by adding matchup-specific Julia methods and inspecting which signatures are available.
Read how Julia as a Second Language explains multiple dispatch →
Data-Oriented Programming: Reduce software complexity
Multiple dispatch is a dispatch mechanism that selects an implementation based on the types of several arguments.
- How it is used
- Uses multimethods to select behavior from multiple arguments represented as generic maps.
- How deep it goes
- Explains dispatch signatures, validation, emitted values, method wiring, calls, and ordering, while deferring dynamic dispatch.
- Examples
- Demonstrates animal greetings selected by dog, cat, or cow types combined with French or English language maps.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by defining a dispatch function, registering methods, and calling the multimethod like a regular function.
Read how Data-Oriented Programming: Reduce software complexity explains multiple dispatch →
Related concepts
- Juliaused by · Julia is a high-level, high-performance programming language designed for numerical, scientific, and technical computing.
- function overloadingcontrasts with · Function overloading is defining multiple callable operations with the same name but different parameter signatures, with behavior selected according to the call.
- polymorphic dispatchuses · Polymorphic dispatch is runtime selection of an operation implementation based on a call's arguments, function value, or context.
- promote_ruleused by · promote_rule is a Julia function whose methods specify the common type to which two types are promoted.
- polymorphismkind of · Polymorphism is a programming-language capability that lets a common interface or operation work with values of different types while allowing behavior to vary by type or implementation.
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