Re: dynamic vs. static typing

[Eli Collins <address@hidden>]

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003, Ken Shan wrote:

> On 2003-11-24T12:14:20-0800, Steve Dekorte wrote:
> > On Nov 24, 2003, at 11:33 AM, Ken Shan wrote:
> > >Maybe -your- type system wouldn't allow it, but mine does:
> > >  ...
> > >See also dynamic_cast in C++.
> > Is this a runtime cast check? If so, then don't we end up with
> > potential runtime errors related to types? (which is what the typing
> > system exists to avoid)
>
> No.

To clarify, the dynamic_cast operator is a run time check, you do not get
a run time error related to the type if the cast is illegal but a null
pointer is returned (which you of course must check to avoid an error).

Relevant pages are 407-409 in Stroustrup 3rd edition:

"The purpose of dynamic_cast is to deal with the case in which the
correctness of the conversion cannot be determined by the compiler."