multi-level Inheritance

Question

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class A {};
class B : public A {};
class C : public B {};

void method(A a) {cout<<'a';}
void method(B b) {cout<<'b';}

int main() {

C c;
method (c);

return 0;
}

// outputs b

To call a function, we need to pass the the function name and required parameters...
Why is method (B b) executed when it does NOT have matching parameters as method (c)...

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Question 1:
Why and how is method (c) of class C able to call method (B b) of class B
and unable to call method (A a) of class A?

Is it that we can only call one level above in a multi-level inheritance situation?

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Question 2:
If there was a global 'void method(C c) {cout<<'c';}',
why would method (B b) no longer be called?

Answer 1

Let's not call them methods, but functions!

Q1) C will be upcast to B simply because B is the next step up in the class hierarchy. You can still call the other function, by casting explicitly: `method((A)c);`

Q2) That is correct, no cast is necessary so that's the function that will be called. But again with an explicit cast you can call all 3.