Explicit type conversion

Lecture 3 - Slide 5 : 27

C++ supports a number of different kinds of type castings

Use of these cast operations makes it easier for the programmer to spot the more dangerous type conversions

static_cast<T>(expr)
- Casting between related types
- Can activate built-in or user-defined type conversion, conversion operators, and implicit/explicit constructors.
- Cannot cast away const
reinterpret_cast<T>(expr)
- Casting between unrelated types, potentially unsafe
- Can cast between pointer types, and between integer and pointer types.
- ... provides a value of new type that has the same bit pattern as its argument
dynamic_cast<T>(expr)
- Primarily for down casting or cross casting of a pointer to an object (of polymorphic type)
- For a pointer p, dynamic_cast<T>(p) can be seen as the question: 'Is the object pointed to by p of type T ?'.
const_cast<T>(expr)
- Add or remove const qualifier to a type