class - What is this C++ OOP concept for pointers called?

Question

This question already has answers here: question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65650421/what-is-this-c-oop-concept-for-pointers-called

Answer 1

Look up “Polymorphism”.

When subThing is derived from Thing, an instance of subThing is also an instance of Thing, so a subThing* pointer can be used anywhere a Thing* pointer can be used. Same thing with subThing& and Thing& references. Just watch out for “Object Slicing”. Polymorphic access to an object only works when accessing the object via a pointer or reference.