Method Dispatch

Definitions

1. The mechanism by which a language runtime determines which concrete method implementation to invoke for a given call, either at compile time (static dispatch) or at runtime via a vtable or similar lookup (dynamic dispatch).

   In plain English: The process a program uses to figure out which version of a function to actually run when there are multiple possibilities.

   Example: "We switched from dynamic to static dispatch and shaved 40ns off each call in the hot loop."

Related Terms

• Operator Overloading
• Virtual Function
• Late Binding
• Liskov Substitution Principle
• Method Override
• Overload
• Override
• Reflective Programming
• Subtype
• Virtual Method