Why cannnot derived class pointer point to a base class object?

Example:

class Base

{ public: void foo(); } * pBase;

class Derived : public Base

{ public: void bar(); } * pDerived;

Now, what would happen if you assign pDerived = new Base() and then call pDerived->bar()?By forbidding such an assignment, compiler prevents you from writing error-prone code.

MaximKartashev at 2007-7-7 2:50:33 >