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because the argument to f must be a variable integer, but i is a constant integer. This matching is a form of program correctness, and is known as const-correctness.This allows a form of programming by contract, where functions specify as part of their type signature whether they modify their arguments or not, and whether their return value is modifiable or not.
Differences between C and C++ linkage and calling conventions can also have subtle implications for code that uses function pointers. Some compilers will produce non-working code if a function pointer declared extern "C" points to a C++ function that is not declared extern "C". [22] For example, the following code:
In C/C++, it is possible to declare the parameter of a function or method as constant. This is a guarantee that this parameter cannot be inadvertently modified after its initialization by the caller. If the parameter is a pre-defined (built-in) type, it is called by value and cannot be modified.
The first two of these, const and volatile, are also present in C++, and are the only type qualifiers in C++. Thus in C++ the term " cv -qualified type" (for c onst and v olatile) is often used for "qualified type", while the terms " c -qualified type" and " v -qualified type" are used when only one of the qualifiers is relevant.
In C and C++, constructs such as pointer type conversion and union — C++ adds reference type conversion and reinterpret_cast to this list — are provided in order to permit many kinds of type punning, although some kinds are not actually supported by the standard language.
The word cast, on the other hand, refers to explicitly changing the interpretation of the bit pattern representing a value from one type to another. For example, 32 contiguous bits may be treated as an array of 32 Booleans, a 4-byte string, an unsigned 32-bit integer or an IEEE single precision floating point value.
In class-based programming, downcasting, or type refinement, is the act of casting a base or parent class reference, to a more restricted derived class reference. [1] This is only allowable if the object is already an instance of the derived class, and so this conversion is inherently fallible.
The dynamic_cast operator in C++ is used for downcasting a reference or pointer to a more specific type in the class hierarchy. Unlike the static_cast, the target of the dynamic_cast must be a pointer or reference to class. Unlike static_cast and C-style typecast