25.3 — The override and final specifiers, and covariant return types

To address some common challenges with inheritance, C++ has two inheritance-related identifiers: override and final. Note that these identifiers are not keywords -- they are normal words that have special meaning only when used in certain contexts. The C++ standard calls them “identifiers with special meaning”, but they are often referred to as “specifiers”.

Although final isn’t used very much, override is a fantastic addition that you should use regularly. In this lesson, we’ll take a look at both, as well as one exception to the rule that virtual function override return types must match.

The override specifier

As we mentioned in the previous lesson, a derived class virtual function is only considered an override if its signature and return types match exactly. That can lead to inadvertent issues, where a function that was intended to be an override actually isn’t.

Consider the following example:

#include <iostream>
#include <string_view>

class A
{
public:
	virtual std::string_view getName1(int x) { return "A"; }
	virtual std::string_view getName2(int x) { return "A"; }
};

class B : public A
{
public:
	virtual std::string_view getName1(short x) { return "B"; } // note: parameter is a short
	virtual std::string_view getName2(int x) const { return "B"; } // note: function is const
};

int main()
{
	B b{};
	A& rBase{ b };
	std::cout << rBase.getName1(1) << '\n';
	std::cout << rBase.getName2(2) << '\n';

	return 0;
}

Because rBase is an A reference to a B object, the intention here is to use virtual functions to access B::getName1() and B::getName2(). However, because B::getName1() takes a different parameter (a short instead of an int), it’s not considered an override of A::getName1(). More insidiously, because B::getName2() is const and A::getName2() isn’t, B::getName2() isn’t considered an override of A::getName2().

Consequently, this program prints:

A
A

In this particular case, because A and B just print their names, it’s fairly easy to see that we messed up our overrides, and that the wrong virtual function is being called. However, in a more complicated program, where the functions have behaviors or return values that aren’t printed, such issues can be very difficult to debug.

To help address the issue of functions that are meant to be overrides but aren’t, the override specifier can be applied to any virtual function by placing the override specifier after the function signature (the same place a function-level const specifier goes).

If the function does not override a base class function (or is applied to a non-virtual function), the compiler will flag the function as an error.

#include <string_view>

class A
{
public:
	virtual std::string_view getName1(int x) { return "A"; }
	virtual std::string_view getName2(int x) { return "A"; }
	virtual std::string_view getName3(int x) { return "A"; }
};

class B : public A
{
public:
	std::string_view getName1(short int x) override { return "B"; } // compile error, function is not an override
	std::string_view getName2(int x) const override { return "B"; } // compile error, function is not an override
	std::string_view getName3(int x) override { return "B"; } // okay, function is an override of A::getName3(int)

};

int main()
{
	return 0;
}

The above program produces two compile errors: one for B::getName1(), and one for B::getName2(), because neither override a prior function. B::getName3() does override A::getName3(), so no error is produced for that line.

Because there is no performance penalty for using the override specifier and it helps ensure you’ve actually overridden the function you think you have, all virtual override functions should be tagged using the override specifier. Additionally, because the override specifier implies virtual, there’s no need to tag functions using the override specifier with the virtual keyword.

The final specifier

There may be cases where you don’t want someone to be able to override a virtual function, or inherit from a class. The final specifier can be used to tell the compiler to enforce this. If the user tries to override a function or inherit from a class that has been specified as final, the compiler will give a compile error.

In the case where we want to restrict the user from overriding a function, the final specifier is used in the same place the override specifier is, like so:

#include <string_view>

class A
{
public:
	virtual std::string_view getName() const { return "A"; }
};

class B : public A
{
public:
	// note use of final specifier on following line -- that makes this function not able to be overridden in derived classes
	std::string_view getName() const override final { return "B"; } // okay, overrides A::getName()
};

class C : public B
{
public:
	std::string_view getName() const override { return "C"; } // compile error: overrides B::getName(), which is final
};

In the above code, B::getName() overrides A::getName(), which is fine. But B::getName() has the final specifier, which means that any further overrides of that function should be considered an error. And indeed, C::getName() tries to override B::getName() (the override specifier here isn’t relevant, it’s just there for good practice), so the compiler will give a compile error.

In the case where we want to prevent inheriting from a class, the final specifier is applied after the class name:

#include <string_view>

class A
{
public:
	virtual std::string_view getName() const { return "A"; }
};

class B final : public A // note use of final specifier here
{
public:
	std::string_view getName() const override { return "B"; }
};

class C : public B // compile error: cannot inherit from final class
{
public:
	std::string_view getName() const override { return "C"; }
};

In the above example, class B is declared final. Thus, when C tries to inherit from B, the compiler will give a compile error.

Covariant return types

There is one special case in which a derived class virtual function override can have a different return type than the base class and still be considered a matching override. If the return type of a virtual function is a pointer or a reference to some class, override functions can return a pointer or a reference to a derived class. These are called covariant return types. Here is an example:

#include <iostream>
#include <string_view>

class Base
{
public:
	// This version of getThis() returns a pointer to a Base class
	virtual Base* getThis() { std::cout << "called Base::getThis()\n"; return this; }
	void printType() { std::cout << "returned a Base\n"; }
};

class Derived : public Base
{
public:
	// Normally override functions have to return objects of the same type as the base function
	// However, because Derived is derived from Base, it's okay to return Derived* instead of Base*
	Derived* getThis() override { std::cout << "called Derived::getThis()\n";  return this; }
	void printType() { std::cout << "returned a Derived\n"; }
};

int main()
{
	Derived d{};
	Base* b{ &d };
	d.getThis()->printType(); // calls Derived::getThis(), returns a Derived*, calls Derived::printType
	b->getThis()->printType(); // calls Derived::getThis(), returns a Base*, calls Base::printType

	return 0;
}

This prints:

called Derived::getThis()
returned a Derived
called Derived::getThis()
returned a Base

One interesting note about covariant return types: C++ can’t dynamically select types, so you’ll always get the type that matches the actual version of the function being called.

In the above example, we first call d.getThis(). Since d is a Derived, this calls Derived::getThis(), which returns a Derived*. This Derived* is then used to call non-virtual function Derived::printType().

Now the interesting case. We then call b->getThis(). Variable b is a Base pointer to a Derived object. Base::getThis() is a virtual function, so this calls Derived::getThis(). Although Derived::getThis() returns a Derived*, because Base version of the function returns a Base*, the returned Derived* is upcast to a Base*. Because Base::printType() is non-virtual, Base::printType() is called.

In other words, in the above example, you only get a Derived* if you call getThis() with an object that is typed as a Derived object in the first place.

Note that if printType() were virtual instead of non-virtual, the result of b->getThis() (an object of type Base*) would have undergone virtual function resolution, and Derived::printType() would have been called.

Covariant return types are often used in cases where a virtual member function returns a pointer or reference to the class containing the member function (e.g. Base::getThis() returns a Base*, and Derived::getThis() returns a Derived*). However, this isn’t strictly necessary. Covariant return types can be used in any case where the return type of the override member function is derived from the return type of the base virtual member function.

Quiz time

Question #1

What does the following program output?

#include <iostream>

class A
{
public:
    void print()
    {
        std::cout << "A";
    }
    virtual void vprint()
    {
        std::cout << "A";
    }
};
class B : public A
{
public:
    void print()
    {
        std::cout << "B";
    }
    void vprint() override
    {
        std::cout << "B";
    }
};


class C
{
private:
    A m_a{};

public:
    virtual A& get()
    {
        return m_a;
    }
};

class D : public C
{
private:
    B m_b{};

public:
    B& get() override // covariant return type
    {
        return m_b;
    }
};

int main()
{
    // case 1
    D d {};
    d.get().print();
    d.get().vprint();
    std::cout << '\n';
 
    // case 2
    C c {};
    c.get().print();
    c.get().vprint();
    std::cout << '\n';

    // case 3
    C& ref{ d };
    ref.get().print();
    ref.get().vprint();
    std::cout << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Show Solution

BB
AA
AB

Question #2

When would we use function overloading vs function overriding?

Show Solution