seniorSwift

How does Swift handle runtime polymorphism compared to Objective-C?

Updated May 17, 2026

Short answer

Objective-C uses message passing; Swift uses static dispatch, vtables, and protocol witness tables depending on context.

Deep explanation

Objective-C resolves methods at runtime using dynamic message dispatch, which is highly flexible but slower. Swift prefers static dispatch for performance. For polymorphism, Swift uses vtables for classes and witness tables for protocols. This hybrid approach balances safety and performance.

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