Casting Operators
The latest version of this topic can be found at Casting Operators.
There are several casting operators specific to the C++ language. These operators are intended to remove some of the ambiguity and danger inherent in old style C language casts. These operators are:
dynamic_cast Used for conversion of polymorphic types.
static_cast Used for conversion of nonpolymorphic types.
const_cast Used to remove the
const,volatile, and__unalignedattributes.reinterpret_cast Used for simple reinterpretation of bits.
safe_cast Used to produce verifiable MSIL.
Use const_cast and reinterpret_cast as a last resort, since these operators present the same dangers as old style casts. However, they are still necessary in order to completely replace old style casts.