Virtual/override similar to try?

[GrantWoj]

Would this essentially be the equivalency of the try: method in python? There are clearly differences, but trying to compare it to something I am somewhat familiar with already.

Basically, a failsafe to, “try this, if it fails, give error message”.

[DanM]

Not really, C++ has exceptions try/catch i.e.

#include <exception>
#include <print>
#include <vector>

int main()
{ 
    std::vector vec{1, 2, 3, 4};
    try
    {
        int value = vec.at(4);
        std::println("value = {}", value);
    }
    catch (const std::exception& ex)
    {
        std::println("what(): {}",  ex.what());
    } 
}

- Compiler Explorer

With that said, Unreal disables exceptions.

---

Are you talking about dynamic casting? Because I’m not quite sure how virtual functions are similar to exceptions. Virtual functions allow for “dynamic dispatch”.
Given a base class pointer or reference calling a virtual function will dispatch to the most derived version of the actual object being pointed/referenced to.

Example: Compiler Explorer

[GrantWoj]

Using override just seemed like an easy way to run a try block without actually needing a try black in this scenario.

He didn’t need to use override in the function for it to work, but by adding it, then making a typo in the function name, resulted in a useful error callback. Whereas without override, it just gave the incorrect output.

It just seemed like a really simple try block, specifically for Dynamic Dispatch.

[DanM]

If you’re talking about the override specifically (and not just virtual functions) then its essentially an opt-in syntax error checker.

The override specifier was only added to the language in C++11, making it required for overriding virtual functions would break a lot of existing code. If the language was created today it would almost certainly be mandatory.