When does final mean "maybe, kinda, sorta" ?

[kris]

Sean Kelly wrote:
> kris wrote:
> 
>> Andrei Alexandrescu (See Website For Email) wrote:
>>
>>> kris wrote:
>>> [snip]
>>> I agree about the misleading part, but I don't think that overriding 
>>> private methods is poor practice. In fact I think it's rich practice 
>>> :o). See e.g. http://www.gotw.ca/publications/mill18.htm.
>>>
>>> Andrei
>>
>>
>> Design philosophy aside, what should be done about the issues with 
>> "final" itself?
> 
> 
> I think the current design is consistent but potentially confusing.  If 
> a function can be virtual (ie. if it is not private) then "final" 
> controls whether it can be overridden.  So making a private function 
> final is meaningless because it cannot be overridden--in this case, 
> "final" is simply ignored.
> 
> 
> Sean

Fair enough. Then the compiler should be a tad smarter about disallowing 
'stupid' combinations of attributes. This applies to many other 
attributes, not just final. People /will/ use whatever combination 
they're allowed to, and the doc appears to encourage them to do so.