c++functionvirtualvtablevptr

Why vptr is not static?


Every class which contains one or more virtual function has a Vtable associated with it. A void pointer called vptr points to that vtable. Every object of that class contains that vptr which points to the same Vtable. Then why isn't vptr static ? Instead of associating the vptr with the object, why not associate it with the class ?

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Solution

  • The runtime class of the object is a property of the object itself. In effect, vptr represents the runtime class, and therefore can't be static. What it points to, however, can be shared by all instances of the same runtime class.