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| 1 | +<div align=right> |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | + 🌎 [中文] | [English] |
| 4 | +</div> |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | +[中文]: ../../cpp11/02-final-and-override.html |
| 7 | +[English]: ./02-final-and-override.html |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +# final and override - Explicit Control of Virtual Function Behavior |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +final and override are two **context-sensitive identifiers** introduced in C++11, used in virtual-function inheritance to explicitly express the intent of **overriding** and **sealing**, allowing the compiler to surface polymorphism mismatches at compile time that would otherwise only show up as runtime bugs. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +| Book | Video | Code | X | |
| 14 | +| --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| 15 | +| [cppreference-final](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/final) / [cppreference-override](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/override) / [markdown](https://github.com/mcpp-community/d2mcpp/blob/main/book/en/src/cpp11/02-final-and-override.md) | [Video Explanation]() | [Practice Code](https://github.com/mcpp-community/d2mcpp/blob/main/dslings/cpp11/02-final-and-override-0.cpp) | | |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +**Why were they introduced?** |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +- Before C++11, whether a derived class actually overrode a base virtual function relied entirely on programmers checking signatures by hand — a single mismatched parameter would silently turn an override into a name-hiding declaration with no compiler warning |
| 21 | +- There was no standard way to express the design intent that "this type, or this polymorphic chain, ends here" |
| 22 | +- They make the design contract of virtual functions readable and verifiable |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +**What's the difference between the two?** |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +- override: applied after a derived-class member function, explicitly declaring "this function overrides a base-class virtual function", so the compiler can verify it |
| 27 | +- final: applied after a virtual function means "this virtual function cannot be further overridden"; applied after a class means "this class cannot be inherited from" |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +## I. Basic Usage and Scenarios |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +### override - Explicitly Declare an Override |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +Without override, even a typo in the derived signature only becomes "a brand-new ordinary function" — the polymorphic behavior is silently lost. |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +```cpp |
| 36 | +struct Base { |
| 37 | + virtual void func(int) { } |
| 38 | +}; |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +struct Derived : Base { |
| 41 | + void func(double) { } // intended to override, but the parameter type is wrong; |
| 42 | + // this actually declares a new function |
| 43 | +}; |
| 44 | +``` |
| 45 | +
|
| 46 | +With override, the same mistake is rejected at compile time. |
| 47 | +
|
| 48 | +```cpp |
| 49 | +struct Derived : Base { |
| 50 | + void func(double) override; // error: no matching virtual function in any base class |
| 51 | +}; |
| 52 | +``` |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +Only a base virtual function whose signature (return type + parameter list + cv-qualifiers + ref-qualifiers) matches exactly will satisfy override. |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +```cpp |
| 57 | +struct Base { |
| 58 | + virtual void func(int); |
| 59 | +}; |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +struct Derived : Base { |
| 62 | + void func(int) override; // ok |
| 63 | +}; |
| 64 | +``` |
| 65 | +
|
| 66 | +### final - Forbid Further Overriding or Inheritance |
| 67 | +
|
| 68 | +final has two usages targeting different things. |
| 69 | +
|
| 70 | +**On a virtual function - cut off the polymorphic chain** |
| 71 | +
|
| 72 | +```cpp |
| 73 | +struct A { |
| 74 | + virtual void func() final { } |
| 75 | +}; |
| 76 | +
|
| 77 | +struct B : A { |
| 78 | + void func() override; // error: A::func is final and cannot be overridden |
| 79 | +}; |
| 80 | +``` |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +**On a class - forbid inheritance** |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +```cpp |
| 85 | +struct B final { }; |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +struct C : B { }; // error: B is final and cannot be inherited from |
| 88 | +``` |
| 89 | +
|
| 90 | +### final + Pure Virtual - Non-Overridable Template Method (NVI) |
| 91 | +
|
| 92 | +Lock the outer interface with `virtual ... final`, and expose the customizable steps as pure virtual functions. The result is a stable interface where **the execution order cannot be changed but each step is customizable**. This is a concise expression of the **Non-Virtual Interface** idiom. |
| 93 | +
|
| 94 | +```cpp |
| 95 | +struct AudioPlayer { |
| 96 | + virtual void play() final { // subclasses cannot change the overall flow of play |
| 97 | + init_audio_params(); |
| 98 | + play_audio(); |
| 99 | + } |
| 100 | +private: |
| 101 | + virtual void init_audio_params() = 0; // left for subclasses to customize |
| 102 | + virtual void play_audio() = 0; |
| 103 | +}; |
| 104 | +
|
| 105 | +struct WAVPlayer : AudioPlayer { |
| 106 | + void init_audio_params() override { /* ... */ } |
| 107 | + void play_audio() override { /* ... */ } |
| 108 | +}; |
| 109 | +
|
| 110 | +struct MP3Player : AudioPlayer { |
| 111 | + void init_audio_params() override { /* ... */ } |
| 112 | + void play_audio() override { /* ... */ } |
| 113 | +}; |
| 114 | +``` |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | +Callers always use the unified `AudioPlayer::play()`; each format's player only needs to implement the two hooks. This structure is common when designing plugin-style or protocol-style interfaces. |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | +### Context-Sensitive Identifiers |
| 119 | + |
| 120 | +Neither override nor final is a reserved word or a keyword — they are **context-sensitive identifiers**. They only carry these meanings when they appear at specific positions in a virtual function declaration or a class declaration; in any other position they can still be used as variable names, type names, namespace names, etc. |
| 121 | + |
| 122 | +```cpp |
| 123 | +B override; // ok: here override is just an ordinary variable name |
| 124 | +B final; // ok: here final is just an ordinary variable name |
| 125 | +``` |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | +This is a deliberate compromise in the C++ standard for backward compatibility: existing code that uses override or final as identifiers won't fail to compile after upgrading to C++11. |
| 128 | + |
| 129 | +## II. Important Notes |
| 130 | + |
| 131 | +### override Requires a Signature-Matching Base Virtual Function |
| 132 | + |
| 133 | +Once override is added to a derived-class member function, the compiler requires **a virtual function with a matching signature** to exist in some base class — otherwise it's a compile error. This is the core value of override: lifting "override mismatch" silent bugs from runtime to compile time. |
| 134 | + |
| 135 | +```cpp |
| 136 | +struct A { |
| 137 | + virtual void func1() { } |
| 138 | + void func2() { } // note: not virtual |
| 139 | +}; |
| 140 | + |
| 141 | +struct B : A { |
| 142 | + void func1() override; // ok |
| 143 | + void func2() override; // error: A::func2 is not virtual |
| 144 | +}; |
| 145 | +``` |
| 146 | +
|
| 147 | +### A final Class Is "Sealed" - Use With Care |
| 148 | +
|
| 149 | +A final class cannot be inherited from at all, not even to add a couple of helper methods. Marking a class final is essentially committing to "this type is, by design, a leaf node". Some rules of thumb: |
| 150 | +
|
| 151 | +- The type is explicitly not meant to be extended further (e.g. error types, framework-internal implementation classes, singletons) -> a good fit for final |
| 152 | +- A general-purpose base class or a framework-provided extension point -> do not casually add final |
| 153 | +
|
| 154 | +### final Only Applies to Virtual Functions |
| 155 | +
|
| 156 | +An ordinary member function cannot be overridden in the first place, so adding final to it is meaningless and the compiler will reject it. |
| 157 | +
|
| 158 | +```cpp |
| 159 | +struct A { |
| 160 | + void func() final; // error: final cannot be applied to a non-virtual function |
| 161 | +}; |
| 162 | +``` |
| 163 | + |
| 164 | +### override and final Can Be Used Together |
| 165 | + |
| 166 | +If a virtual function should both override the base-class version and forbid further overriding in derived classes, you can combine the two. |
| 167 | + |
| 168 | +```cpp |
| 169 | +struct B : A { |
| 170 | + void func() override final; // overrides A::func, and prevents C from overriding it again |
| 171 | +}; |
| 172 | +``` |
| 173 | +
|
| 174 | +## III. Practice Code |
| 175 | +
|
| 176 | +### Practice Topics |
| 177 | +
|
| 178 | +- 0 - [Familiarize with override](https://github.com/mcpp-community/d2mcpp/blob/main/dslings/cpp11/02-final-and-override-0.cpp) |
| 179 | +- 1 - [Familiarize with final](https://github.com/mcpp-community/d2mcpp/blob/main/dslings/cpp11/02-final-and-override-1.cpp) |
| 180 | +- 2 - [final + Template Method - AudioPlayer / WAV / MP3 / OGG](https://github.com/mcpp-community/d2mcpp/blob/main/dslings/cpp11/02-final-and-override-2.cpp) |
| 181 | +
|
| 182 | +### Practice Code Auto-detection Command |
| 183 | +
|
| 184 | +``` |
| 185 | +d2x checker final-and-override |
| 186 | +``` |
| 187 | +
|
| 188 | +## IV. Additional Resources |
| 189 | +
|
| 190 | +- [Discussion Forum](https://forum.d2learn.org/category/20) |
| 191 | +- [d2mcpp Tutorial Repository](https://github.com/mcpp-community/d2mcpp) |
| 192 | +- [Tutorial Video List](https://space.bilibili.com/65858958/lists/5208246) |
| 193 | +- [Tutorial Support Tool - xlings](https://github.com/d2learn/xlings) |
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