Home » Tip Bank » C++ » Virtual Functions

Language: C++
Expertise: Intermediate

Apr 7, 2008

The following code may seem strange at first sight:

class Base
{
private:
   virtual void f() = 0;
};

How can a pure virtual function be private? Will the derived class be able to override it? Actually, it's possible for pure virtual functions to have any access modifier: private, protected, or public. Moreover, you can also change their access levels when they're overridden in a derived class:

class Derived : public Base
{
public:
   void f()
   {
      std::cout << "Overloaded public f() in Derived class\n";
   }
};