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Virtual functions allow a program to call methods that don't necessarily even exist at the moment the code is compiled. [citation needed] In C++, virtual methods are declared by prepending the virtual keyword to the function's declaration in the base class. This modifier is inherited by all implementations of that method in derived classes ...
In computer programming, a virtual method table (VMT), virtual function table, virtual call table, dispatch table, vtable, or vftable is a mechanism used in a programming language to support dynamic dispatch (or run-time method binding).
In C++ implementations, this is commonly done using virtual function tables. If the object type is known, this may be bypassed by prepending a fully qualified class name before the function call, but in general calls to virtual functions are resolved at run time.
The default form of dispatch is static. To get dynamic dispatch the programmer must declare a method as virtual. C++ compilers typically implement dynamic dispatch with a data structure called a virtual function table (vtable) that defines the name-to-implementation mapping for a given class as a set of member function pointers. This is purely ...
For example, in C++ a method is known as a member function. C++ also has the concept of virtual functions which are member functions that can be overridden in derived classes and allow for dynamic dispatch.
In C++ implementations, this is commonly done using virtual function tables. If the object type is known, this may be bypassed by prepending a fully qualified class name before the function call, but in general calls to virtual functions are resolved at run time.
In C++, late binding (also called "dynamic binding") refers to what normally happens when the virtual keyword is used in a method's declaration. C++ then creates a so-called virtual table, which is a look-up table for such functions that will always be consulted when they are called.
Virtual inheritance is a C++ technique that ensures only one copy of a base class ' s member variables are inherited by grandchild derived classes. Without virtual inheritance, if two classes B and C inherit from a class A , and a class D inherits from both B and C , then D will contain two copies of A ' s member variables: one via B , and one ...