Which programming concept allows different classes to be treated as instances of the same class through a shared interface?

The concept that allows different classes to be treated as instances of the same class through a shared interface is polymorphism. Polymorphism is a fundamental principle in object-oriented programming that enables objects of different classes to respond to the same method call in different ways. This is typically implemented through interfaces or base classes with overridden methods in derived classes.

For example, consider a base class called "Animal" with a method "makeSound()". Different derived classes, such as "Dog" and "Cat," can implement their own versions of the "makeSound()" method. When you have a collection of animals and call "makeSound()" on each of them, polymorphism allows each animal to execute the appropriate method for its specific class (dogs bark, cats meow), even though they are being treated as instances of the "Animal" class.

This capability is critical in achieving flexibility and enabling code reusability, as it allows developers to write more generic code that can work with any class that conforms to a particular interface.

The other concepts—abstraction, encapsulation, and composition—each serve different purposes in the realm of software development. Abstraction focuses on hiding the complex implementation details and exposing only the necessary parts of an object. Encapsulation refers to