C++ override private pure virtual method as public

Question

Why does this happen?

http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/e1376beff0c157a1

class Base{
private:
    virtual void do_run() = 0;
public:
    void run(){
        do_run();
    }
};

class A : public Base {
public:
    // uplift ??
    virtual void do_run() override {}
};


int main()
{
    A a;
    a.do_run();
}

Why can I override a PRIVATE virtual method as public?

Answer 1

According to https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/virtual#In_detail overriding a base's virtual member function only care about the function name, parameters, const/volatile-ness and ref qualifier. It doesn't care about return type, access modifier or other things you might expect it to care about.

The linked reference also specifically notes that :

Base::vf does not need to be visible (can be declared private, or inherited using private inheritance) to be overridden.

Nothing that I can find explicitly gives permission to do this, but the rules of overriding do not prevent it. It's allowed by virtue of virtual functions and function overriding existing and not disallowing this case.

If you are asking why this is how the language is, you may have to ask the standardization committee.

Answer 2

That behavior is intended. If a method is virtual then it's meant to be customizable by derived classes, regardless of access modifier.

See here