How do I call the parent function from a derived class using C++? For example, I have a class called parent
, and a class called child
which is derived from parent. Within
each class there is a print
function. In the definition of the child's print function I would like to make a call to the parents print function. How would I go about doing this?
C++ – How to Call a Parent Class Function from Derived Class
c++inheritanceoop
Best Answer
I'll take the risk of stating the obvious: You call the function, if it's defined in the base class it's automatically available in the derived class (unless it's
private
).If there is a function with the same signature in the derived class you can disambiguate it by adding the base class's name followed by two colons
base_class::foo(...)
. You should note that unlike Java and C#, C++ does not have a keyword for "the base class" (super
orbase
) since C++ supports multiple inheritance which may lead to ambiguity.Incidentally, you can't derive directly from the same class twice since there will be no way to refer to one of the base classes over the other.