C++ FAQ Celebrating Twenty-One Years of the C++ FAQ!!!
(Click here for a personal note from Marshall Cline.)
Section 21:
21.1 Should I hide member functions that were public in my base class?
21.2 Errors trying to convert Derived** → Base**?
21.3 Is a parking-lot-of-Car a kind-of parking-lot-of-Vehicle?
21.4 Is an array of Derived a kind-of array of Base?
21.5 Does array-of-Derived is-not-a-kind-of array-of-Base mean arrays are bad?
21.6 Is a Circle a kind-of an Ellipse?
21.7 Are there other options to the "Circle is/isnot kind-of Ellipse" dilemma?
21.8 Why does this Circle-kind-of-Ellipse problem seem confusing?
21.9 Perhaps Ellipse should inherit from Circle then?
21.10 But my problem doesn't have anything to do with circles and ellipses, so what good is that silly example to me?
21.11 How could "it depend"??!? Aren't terms like "Circle" and "Ellipse" defined mathematically?
21.12 Is SortedList a kind-of List?
[21.1] Should I hide member functions that were public in my base class?

Never, never, never do this. Never. Never!

Attempting to hide (eliminate, revoke, privatize) inherited public member functions is an all-too-common design error. It usually stems from muddy thinking.

(Note: this FAQ has to do with public inheritance; private and protected inheritance are different.)