C++ – Can I Call a Base Class’s Virtual Function If Overriding It?

c++overridingvirtual-functions

Say I have classes Foo and Bar set up like this:

class Foo
{
public:
    int x;

    virtual void printStuff()
    {
        std::cout << x << std::endl;
    }
};

class Bar : public Foo
{
public:
    int y;

    void printStuff()
    {
        // I would like to call Foo.printStuff() here...
        std::cout << y << std::endl;
    }
};

As annotated in the code, I'd like to be able to call the base class's function that I'm overriding. In Java there's the super.funcname() syntax. Is this possible in C++?

Best Answer

In C++ you have to explicitly name the base class in calling the derived class method. This can be done from any method from the derived class. The override is a special case of the method of the same name. In Java there is no multi inheritance, so you can use super which will uniquely name the base class. The C++ syntax is like this:

class Bar : public Foo {
  // ...

  void printStuff() override {  // help the compiler to check
    Foo::printStuff(); // calls base class' function
  }
};
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