Override vs Overwrite

Question

Possible Duplicate:
C++ Overriding… overwriting?

What's the difference between override and overwrite? I've heard them used interchangeably but I suspect that's incorrect.

@Dave: I can't think of a situation in C++ where "overwrite" is used in a technical sense (other than the standard English sense of overwriting some data). — Oliver Charlesworth, Jan 22 '12 at 17:09

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 22 '12 at 16:55

3

You can only overwrite what's been written and where it's been written, while you can override things elsewhere (for instance you can override members of base class in derived classes).

answered Jan 22 '12 at 16:55

Michael Krelin - hacker

138,757
24
193
173

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 24 '13 at 08:09

override is a C++11 keyword used to override base virtual method:

class A
{
    virtual f(int) {}
};

class B
{
    virtual f(int) override {} // override A::f(int)
};

This lets you make sure that A::F(int) gets overriden, meaning you are not creating new virtual function. Of course this code won't compile if the function signature was different.

overwrite is not C++ keyword and it basically means to overwrite some file or text with new one.

The keyword override has been introduced because some times a programmer doesn't know whether he is overriding or whether he is creating a new virtual method with a different signature. Using that keyword you either get an error or override virtual method.

Would +1 if not for the number of typos in the answer... – P Marecki Oct 04 '12 at 03:37 — P Marecki, Oct 04 '12 at 03:37

Override vs Overwrite

2 Answers2