typeclasslike
Typeclasslike is a term used to describe programming constructs that imitate the behavior of type classes in languages that either do not support them natively or implement them through separate design patterns. At its core, a typeclasslike mechanism specifies a contract—an interface of operations that a type must support in order to participate in generic code. Types provide concrete implementations of that contract, and generic functions can operate on any type that fulfills the contract.
In practice, a compiler or library resolves the appropriate implementations when code uses a generic parameter
Languages with true type classes (such as Haskell) encode this directly; languages without native support often
Benefits include abstraction, code reuse, and decoupling between algorithms and data representations. Limitations include potential complexity
See also: type class, trait, interface, ad hoc polymorphism, dictionary passing.