Virtual and Override Functions

what's the concept of the virtual and override Function, what's their Features ???

Code (CSharp):

1. public virtual int TakeDamage(int damage)
2. {
3.     return HitPoints - damage;
4. }
5.  
6. public override int TakeDamage(int damage)
7. {
8.     return HitPoints - damage;
9. }
10.  
11.  

 

They are for inheritance and polymorphism. If it is virtual you can override it in a class that derives from your main class.

Override just means you are overriding a virtual method or implmenating a abstract method.

 

Something tells me that explanation won't be sufficient.

 

Well the information won't matter to him tell he learns about polymorphism, and there is tons of information on the web about it since it is a general object oriented programming concept.

 

I didn't mean to criticize your answer, it was a good one no doubt. I just had an image of somebody reading that and throwing their hands in the air having no idea what it meant. That made me chuckle.

 

Let's say you have two kinds of enemies. One standard enemy (called Enemy) and one really badass enemy (called Badass). They should share almost everything, with the exception that Badass will laugh at you when you shoot him instead of actually taking damage. Then it might be a possible approach (not the only one, but ONE appoach) to have the Badass derive from Enemy (this concept is called inheritence).

In the Enemy class, you should mark the functions that can be overriden by any subclass as virtual. In the subclass, mark any functions that are overriding as override.

Code (CSharp):

1.     class Enemy
2.     {
3.       public virtual int HitByBullet(int damage)
4.       {
5.         return HitPoints - damage;
6.       }
7.     }

Code (CSharp):

1.     class Badass : Enemy
2.     {
3.       public override int HitByBullet(int damage)
4.       {
5.        audio.PlayOneShot(m_laughSfx);
6.       }
7.     }

Overcourse (well, not really): If you want mr Badass to laugh AND take damage, a good way is to call the base function from the overriding function.

Code (CSharp):

1. public override int HitByBullet(int damage)
2. {
3.    audio.PlayOneShot(m_laughSfx);
4.    return base.HitByBullet(damage);
5. }

Hope this may have helped a little. There are tons of info regarding inheritence in C# on the internet as well if you want to dig deep. Good luck!

 

Good response, Bankler!

 

Thank you for this Bankler! Still helpful for a newb 9 years later.