Run-time Type Information

In computer programming, RTTI (Run-Time Type Information, or Run-Time Type Identification) refers to a C++ mechanism that exposes information about an object's data type at runtime. Run-time type information can apply to simple data types, such as integers and characters, or to generic types. This is a C++ specialization of a more general concept called type introspection. Similar mechanisms are also known in other programming languages, such as Delphi (Object Pascal).

In the original C++ design, Bjarne Stroustrup did not include run-time type information, because he thought this mechanism was frequently misused.

Read more about Run-time Type Information:  Features, C++ Example

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