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In C++, my understanding is that virtual function can be inlined, but generally, the hint to inline is ignored. It seems that inline virtual functions do not make too much sense.
Is that right?
Can anybody give a case in which an inline virtual function is good?
Under normal circumstances, a virtual function will be invoked via a pointer to a function (that’s contained in the class’ vtable). That being the case, a virtual function call can only be generated inline if the compiler can statically determine the actual type for which the function will be invoked, rather than just that it must be class X or something derived from X.
The primary time an inline virtual function makes sense is if you have a performance critical situation, and know that a class will frequently be used in a way that allows the compiler to determine the actual type statically (and at least one target compiler optimizes out the call via pointer).