Services
Technology Web App Development Mobile App Development Windows App Development Database Development UI/UX Development Cloud Development SEO Digital Marketing Guest Posting Content Writing Artificial Intelligence Data Science ERP Development CRM Development CMS Development LMS Development Business Listing Blockchain Technology Startup Promotion
Products
Data Converter Cleaner TUC - Unit Converter Import Export Survey Manager Tweet Controller
Developer
Article Blog Forum Interview Beginner News Startup Quiz
Users
Career
Apply Job Internship
Pricing
Login Sign Up Get a Quote

forum

home / developersection / forums / what is the difference between override, new, and virtual keywords?
Ask Question

What is the difference between override, new, and virtual keywords?

Anubhav Sharma 459 19 Jun 2025

What is the difference between override, new, and virtual keywords?

c# c#
Updated 24 Jun 2025
Anubhav Sharma
Anubhav Sharma

Student

The Anubhav portal was launched in March 2015 at the behest of the Hon'ble Prime Minister for retiring government officials to leave a record of their experiences while in Govt service .

Message

1 Answers

Ponu Maurya
Ponu Maurya 24 Jun 2025
Report Abuse

In C#, the virtual, override, and new keywords are used for method overriding and hiding in object-oriented inheritance. Here's a breakdown of each:

virtual

  • Used in a base class to indicate that a method or property can be overridden in a derived class.
  • Allows runtime polymorphism.
public class Base
{
    public virtual void Show()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Base Show");
    }
}

override

  • Used in a derived class to override a virtual method or property from a base class.
  • The base class must mark the member as virtual, abstract, or override.
public class Derived : Base
{
    public override void Show()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Derived Show");
    }
}

 new

  • Used to hide a base class member without overriding it.
  • Does not support polymorphism — the method called depends on the reference type, not the object type.
public class Derived : Base
{
    public new void Show()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Derived Show (new)");
    }
}

Example to Illustrate the Difference

Base obj = new Derived();
obj.Show(); // What gets called?

Output:

  • If Show() is overridden using override, output: "Derived Show"
  • If Show() is hidden using new, output: "Base Show" (because obj is a Base reference)

Summary Table

Keyword Where Used Purpose Supports Polymorphism?
virtual Base class Marks a method as overridable Yes
override Derived class Overrides a virtual/abstract method Yes
new Derived class Hides base class method (not override) No
MindStick Training