In which cases is it recommended to use the dynamic_cast operator in C++?

The dynamic_cast operator in C++ is used for safe casting of pointers or references within an inheritance hierarchy, when it is necessary to verify whether the object truly belongs to the target type or its subclass.

It is recommended to use dynamic_cast in the following cases:

• When casting down the class hierarchy (downcasting), when you have a pointer or reference to a base class and need to access a derived class.
• When it is necessary to check the type of an object at runtime (RTTI).
• For safe casting, as dynamic_cast returns nullptr for pointers or throws an exception for references upon failure.

Example:

class Base { virtual void foo() {} };
class Derived : public Base {};

Base* b = new Derived();
Derived* d = dynamic_cast<Derived*>(b);
if (d) {
    // Casting succeeded
} else {
    // Casting failed
}