Saturday, August 22, 2009

Upcasting vs. downcasting

I always seem to forget which is which so I guess I’ll write it down here once and for all.

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Casting from a Circle or Rectangle to a Shape is upcasting, casting up in the hierarchy.

Casting from a Shape object to a Circle object is downcasting, casting down in the hierarchy. If you find yourself downcasting, it may be an indication of a code smell, think twice about it!

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