Re: Polymorphism vs. Overloading

Both overloading and polymorphism are terms used to characterize
functions from types into functions, i.e. of 'type'


      TYPE -> FUNCTION


A polymorphic function is in principle one that returns the same
function for each type. An overloaded function typically returns
different functions for different types. The mapping from types
into functions is typically done at compile time for overloaded
functions.


The function returned by a polymorphic function, when given a type
argument, may in practice require some value parameters in addition
to those explicitly required. These can safely be described as
hidden and the corresponding arguments as automatically generated,
so in many respects both can be considered as non-existing. The
additional parameters should not be confused with identifications
of the type given to the polymorphic function.
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