Question

Suppose that we have a class

class Abstract {
    Abstract( void );
    virtual ~Abstract( void ) = 0;

    virtual void VirtualFunction( void ) = 0;

    static void CallsVirtual( void ) {
        VirtualFunction();
    }
};
class Concrete : public Abstract {
    Concrete( void ) {}
    ~Concrete( void ){}
    virtual void VirtualFunction( void ) {/* Do virtual function-y stuff */}
};

int main( void ) {
    Concrete _concrete;
    Abstract& _abstractReference = _concrete;

    _abstractReference.callsvirtual();
}

Which virtual member function is invoked when a base class static member function is called through a base class pointer to a derived class?

Answer 1

Neither. You’ll get a compiler error. You can’t call non-static methods or access non-static members from a static method.

//...
virtual void VirtualFunction( void ) = 0;

static void CallsVirtual( void ) {
    VirtualFunction();   // Nope!
}
//...