Understanding static binding and dynamic binding is crucial for mastering method calls and polymorphism in Object-Oriented Programming, especially in languages like Java.

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📌 What is Binding?

Binding means connecting a method call to the actual method implementation that will be executed.
In other words:

When you call obj.someMethod(), how does the JVM know which version of someMethod() to run? That’s binding.

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🪝 1️⃣ Static Binding (Early Binding)

What is Static Binding?

• The method call is resolved at compile time.
• Happens when the compiler knows exactly which method to call based on the reference type.
• Used for: ✅ Static methods
  ✅ Private methods
  ✅ Final methods
  ✅ Overloaded methods (same method name, different parameters)

class Animal {
    static void staticMethod() {
        System.out.println("Animal static method");
    }

    private void privateMethod() {
        System.out.println("Animal private method");
    }

    void speak() { // non-overridden method
        System.out.println("Animal speaking");
    }
}

Static binding calls

Animal.staticMethod();  // Compiler knows this is Animal's static method

Animal animal = new Animal();
animal.speak();  // Compiler binds directly to Animal.speak() (no overriding involved)

✅ No runtime decision-making — the method is locked down at compile time.

🔗 2️⃣ Dynamic Binding (Late Binding)

What is Dynamic Binding?

• The method call is resolved at runtime.
• Happens when the method is overridden and the actual object type (not the reference type) determines which method to call.
• This is a core part of polymorphism.

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Example

class Animal {
    void speak() {
        System.out.println("Animal speaking");
    }
}

class Dog extends Animal {
    @Override
    void speak() {
        System.out.println("Dog barking");
    }
}

Dynamic binding call

Animal animal = new Dog();  // Reference type is Animal, object type is Dog
animal.speak();  // Dog's speak() is called at runtime

✅ The compiler doesn’t know for sure which version of speak() to call — this is decided at runtime, based on the actual object type.

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🔥 Key Differences

Aspect	Static Binding	Dynamic Binding
When bound	Compile time	Runtime
Works with	Static, private, final, overloaded methods	Overridden methods (polymorphism)
Performance	Slightly faster (direct call)	Slightly slower (needs runtime lookup)
Example	staticMethod(), overloadedMethod(int)	@Override methods in subclass

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⚠️ Important Rule

Overridden methods = dynamic binding
Overloaded, static, final, private methods = static binding

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🚀 Quick Recap

Binding	Example
Static Binding	animal.staticMethod(), overloadedMethod()
Dynamic Binding	animal.speak() (if overridden in a subclass)