Polymorphism in C++

This is Nekuromento's second example, factored in the way I consider idiomatic for object-oriented C:

animal.h

#ifndef ANIMAL_H_
#define ANIMAL_H_

struct animal
{
    // make vtable_ a pointer so they can be shared between instances
    // use _ to mark private members
    const struct animal_vtable_ *vtable_;
    const char *name;
};

struct animal_vtable_
{
    const char *(*sound)(void);
};

// wrapper function
static inline const char *animal_sound(struct animal *animal)
{
    return animal->vtable_->sound();
}

// make the vtables arrays so they can be used as pointers
extern const struct animal_vtable_ CAT[], DOG[];

#endif

cat.c

#include "animal.h"

static const char *sound(void)
{
    return "meow!";
}

const struct animal_vtable_ CAT[] = { { sound } };

dog.c

#include "animal.h"

static const char *sound(void)
{
    return "arf!";
}

const struct animal_vtable_ DOG[] = { { sound } };

main.c

#include "animal.h"
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    struct animal kitty = { CAT, "Kitty" };
    struct animal lassie = { DOG, "Lassie" };

    printf("%s says %s\n", kitty.name, animal_sound(&kitty));
    printf("%s says %s\n", lassie.name, animal_sound(&lassie));

    return 0;
}

This is an example of runtime polymorphism as that's when method resolution happens.

C1x added generic selections, which make compile-time polymorphism via macros possible. The following example is taken from the C1x April draft, section 6.5.1.1 §5:

#define cbrt(X) _Generic((X), \
    long double: cbrtl, \
    default: cbrt, \
    float: cbrtf \
)(X)

Type-generic macros for math functions were already available in C99 via the header tgmath.h, but there was no way for users to define their own macros without using compiler extensions.

I guess, you already checked Wikipedia article on polymorphism.

In computer science, polymorphism is a programming language feature that allows values of different data types to be handled using a uniform interface.

According to that definition, no, C doesn't natively support polymorphism. For instance, there is no general function for acquiring absolute value of a number (abs and fabs are for integers and doubles respectively).

If you're also familiar with C++, take a look at OOP inheritance and templates - those are mechanisms for polymorphism there.

Almost all implementations of runtime polymorphism in C will use function pointers, so this is the basic building block.

Here is a simple example when procedure runtime behavior changes depending on it's argument.

#include <stdio.h>

int tripple(int a) {
    return 3 * a;
}

int square(int a) {
    return a * a;
}

void transform(int array[], size_t len, int (*fun)(int)) {
    size_t i = 0;
    for(; i < len; ++i)
        array[i] = fun(array[i]);
}

int main() {
    int array[3] = {1, 2, 3};
    transform(array, 3, &tripple);
    transform(array, 3, &square);

    size_t i = 0;
    for (; i < 3; ++i)
        printf("%d ", array[i]);

    return 0;
}

Using function pointers you can create virtual tables and use it to create "objects" that will be treated uniformly, but behave differently at runtime.

#include <stdio.h>

struct animal_vtable {
    const char* (*sound)();
};

struct animal {
    struct animal_vtable methods;
    const char* name;
};

const char* cat_sound() {
    return "meow!";
}

const char* dog_sound() {
    return "bark!";
}

void describe(struct animal *a) {
    printf("%s makes \"%s\" sound.\n", a->name, a->methods.sound());
}

struct animal cat = {{&cat_sound}, "cat"};
struct animal dog = {{&dog_sound}, "dog"};

int main() {
    describe(&cat);
    describe(&dog);

    return 0;
}

There's no intrinsic support for polymorphism in C, but there are design patterns, using function pointers, base 'class' (structure) casts, etc., that can provide a logical equivalent of dynamic dispatch. The GTK library is good example.