Search⌘ K
Home
Courses
Learn Object-Oriented Programming in C++

Function Overriding

Explore how function overriding in C++ allows derived classes to modify inherited methods. Learn to extend base class functionality without duplicating code, including handling overloaded functions and scope resolution.

We'll cover the following...

Overriding inherited functions

When a derived class inherits from a base class, it may choose to change some of the inherited functionality. This is called function overriding, since the derived class is overriding the functionality of the base class.

Example

Here’s a simple example to demonstrate this:

C++
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Employee {
  protected:
    string name;
    int ID;
    int reportsTo;
  public:
    Employee(string name, int ID, int boss) : name(name), ID(ID), reportsTo(boss) { }
    string getName() { return name; }
    int getID() { return ID; }
    int getBoss() { return reportsTo; }
    void display() {
      cout << ID << " " << name << " reports to " << reportsTo << endl;
    }
    void display(string salutation)
    {
      cout << salutation << " ";
      display();
    }
};
class Manager : public Employee {
  protected:
    string teamName;
  public:
    Manager(string name, int ID, int boss, string teamName) : Employee(name, ID, boss), teamName(teamName) { }
    void display() {
      Employee::display();
      cout << "   Heads the team " << teamName << endl;
    }
};
int main() {
  Employee worker("John Smith", 10, 2);
  Manager ceo("Jack Hobbs", 0, 0, "Eats R Us");
  Manager cto("Elizabeth Shaw", 2, 0, "IT");
  worker.display("Mr");
  ceo.display();
  cto.display();
  //ceo.display("Mr")
  return 0;
}

We have defined a base class to represent an Employee. Since a Manager is also an Employee, ...