Rainer Deyke wrote:
> C++ casts perform three different logical functions:
> - Removing cv-qualifiers. (const_cast)
Agreed.
> - Reinterpreting raw bytes. (reinterpret_cast)
Safely though: It won't allow any wild bit representations. For really
wild stuff, you need to use the C-style cast.
> - Converting values. (static_cast/dynamic_cast)
I would like to separate static_cast and dynamic_cast:
- static_cast does two things:
a) can convert values: this does call the user-defined conversion
operators if necessary
b) static_cast also communicates "trust me, this super class *really* is
this subclass." In this latter case, no value is converted; rather, the
type of the pointer value is changed, so that the member access offsets
will be adjusted accordingly later on, when this pointer is used
- dynamic_cast performs only (b) above, but safely: "if this super class
is actually this subclass, set the pointer to point to it". Otherwise
the pointer is set to null. Again, no value conversion here.
Ali
