How Do I Implement Interfaces in C Using Abstract Base Classes and Virtual Destructors?

Implementing Interfaces in C

Question:
How can I create a class representing an interface in C ? Is it simply an abstract base class?

Answer:

Beyond the concept of pure virtual methods for defining an interface, introduced by the previous respondent, consider adding a virtual destructor to the mix. This enables you to pass ownership of a pointer to another party while concealing the underlying concrete derived class. While counterintuitive, declaring a function as both virtual and inline is permissible.

class IDemo
{
public:
    virtual ~IDemo() {}
    virtual void OverrideMe() = 0;
};

class Parent
{
public:
    virtual ~Parent();
};

class Child : public Parent, public IDemo
{
public:
    virtual void OverrideMe()
    {
        // Implementation details
    }
};

Note that an explicit destructor body is optional. Some compilers struggle with optimizing empty destructors, so relying on the default implementation is generally preferable.

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