What is static dispatching in object-oriented programming?

0-2 years experience

1. 1You have a class `Animal` with a method `speak` and a subclass `Dog` that overrides it. When you call `dog.speak()`, how does JavaScript decide which function runs, and how would using a static method change that decision?
2. 2If you write a helper that calls `this.calculate()` inside a class, what determines at runtime which `calculate` implementation is used? Explain the difference between static and dynamic dispatch in this simple case.

2-5 years experience

1. 1A teammate replaced an instance method with a static method on the base class to speed up a tight loop, but now subclass overrides no longer work. Walk me through why the behavior changed and how you’d fix it.
2. 2During a refactor we introduced a generic utility in TypeScript that calls a method on a generic type. Subclasses that override the method still hit the base implementation. Why did static dispatch occur, and what can you do to preserve the override?

5-8 years experience

1. 1We’re building a component library that allows third‑party plugins to extend core components. How would you expose core methods so they can be statically dispatched for performance while still permitting plugins to override them when needed?
2. 2Profiling a high‑throughput Node service shows many deoptimizations due to dynamic method lookups. Propose a strategy that uses static dispatch to reduce overhead, and discuss any edge cases or limitations.

8+ years experience

1. 1Our platform is migrating from prototype‑based inheritance to a class‑based API that relies on static dispatch to cut startup latency. What architectural steps, migration plan, and backward‑compatibility measures would you recommend?
2. 2Multiple teams need to decide whether to expose a core utility library as static functions (static dispatch) or as instance methods (dynamic dispatch). How would you evaluate the long‑term maintenance, bundle‑size, and tree‑shaking implications of each approach?