Laufzeitbindung

Laufzeitbindung, also known as dynamic binding or late binding, is a concept in computer programming where the specific function or method to be executed is not determined until the program is running, rather than at compile time. This contrasts with static binding, where the code to be executed is fixed during the compilation phase.

The primary mechanism for achieving Laufzeitbindung is often through polymorphism, particularly in object-oriented programming. When a program encounters a call to a method on an object, and the exact type of that object is not known until runtime, the system must look up the correct implementation of the method based on the object's actual type at that moment. This lookup process is the essence of Laufzeitbindung.

Advantages of Laufzeitbindung include increased flexibility and extensibility. Programs can be designed to work with objects of types that were not known when the program was initially written, allowing for easier addition of new functionalities or modifications to existing ones without recompiling the entire codebase. This is fundamental to many design patterns and frameworks.

However, Laufzeitbindung can introduce a performance overhead. The process of dynamically determining which method to call can be slower than directly invoking a pre-determined function address, as is the case with static binding. Therefore, the choice between static and dynamic binding often involves a trade-off between flexibility and performance. Languages like Java, C++, and Python extensively utilize Laufzeitbindung.