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About: Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism

Module by: Stephen Wong, Dung Nguyen

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Name: Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism
ID: m11796
Language:
Summary: The union design pattern is a structural pattern that depicts the inheritance relationship between a superclass and its subclasses. The superclass is an abstract representation of the union of all the subclasses. Due to this polymorphism, the subclasses can thus be used wherever the superclass is required.
Subject: Science and Technology
Keywords: design patterns, OOP, object oriented programming, polymorphism, inheritance
Document Type: -//CNX//DTD CNXML 0.5//EN
License: Creative Commons Attribution License
Authors: Stephen Wong (swong@rice.edu), Dung Nguyen (dxnguyen@rice.edu)
Copyright Holders: Stephen Wong (swong@rice.edu), Dung Nguyen (dxnguyen@rice.edu)
Maintainers: Stephen Wong (swong@rice.edu), Dung Nguyen (dxnguyen@rice.edu)
Version: 1.11 (history)
Created: Jan 20, 2004 10:46 am US/Central
Revised: Jan 30, 2008 11:39 pm US/Central

Version History

Version: 1.11 Jan 30, 2008 11:39 pm US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Fixed missing colspec in second table
Version: 1.10 Jul 2, 2007 6:32 pm GMT-5 by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Added middle section on problems with hoisting.
Version: 1.9 May 29, 2004 10:59 am GMT-5 by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Fix formatting problem
Version: 1.8 May 29, 2004 10:54 am GMT-5 by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Clarified Prob. 10
Version: 1.7 May 29, 2004 10:47 am GMT-5 by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Fixed type in Prob. #8 and clarified Prob. #11.
Version: 1.6 Jan 30, 2004 2:25 am US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
added more examples
Version: 1.5 Jan 28, 2004 2:52 pm US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
fixed typo in code
Version: 1.4 Jan 27, 2004 12:40 pm US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Added exercises on polymorphism
Version: 1.3 Jan 25, 2004 11:16 pm US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
Added comment on interfaces
Version: 1.2 Jan 21, 2004 9:47 am US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
added material on variant/invariant
Version: 1.1 Jan 20, 2004 11:06 pm US/Central by Stephen Wong
Changes: 
initial publication

How to Cite This Content

Choose the citation style appropriate to your needs:

American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Guide:

Wong, S.; Nguyen, D. Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism, Connexions Web site. http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/, Jan 30, 2008.

American Medical Assocation (AMA) Manual of Style:

Wong S, Nguyen D. Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism [Connexions Web site]. January 30, 2008. Available at: http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/.

American Psychological Assocation (APA) Publication Manual:

Wong, S., & Nguyen, D. (2008, January 30). Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/

Chicago Manual of Style (Bibliography):

Wong, Stephen, and Dung Nguyen. "Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism." Connexions. January 30, 2008. http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/.

Chicago Manual of Style (Note):

Stephen Wong and Dung Nguyen, "Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism," Connexions, January 30, 2008, http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/.

Chicago Manual of Style (Reference, in Author-Date style):

Wong, S., & Nguyen, D. 2008. Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism. Connexions, January 30, 2008. http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/.

Modern Languages Association (MLA) Style Manual:

Wong, Stephen, and Dung Nguyen. Union Design Pattern: Inheritance and Polymorphism. Connexions. 30 Jan. 2008 <http://cnx.org/content/m11796/1.11/>.