Storing a list of arbitrary objects in C++

Question

In Java, you can have a List of Objects. You can add objects of multiple types, then retrieve them, check their type, and perform the appropriate action for that type.
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Answer 1

I'd just like to point out that using dynamic type casting in order to branch based on type often hints at flaws in the architecture. Most times you can achieve the same effect using virtual functions:

class MyData
{
public:
  // base classes of polymorphic types should have a virtual destructor
  virtual ~MyData() {} 

  // hand off to protected implementation in derived classes
  void DoSomething() { this->OnDoSomething(); } 

protected:
  // abstract, force implementation in derived classes
  virtual void OnDoSomething() = 0;
};

class MyIntData : public MyData
{
protected:
  // do something to int data
  virtual void OnDoSomething() { ... } 
private:
  int data;
};

class MyComplexData : public MyData
{
protected:
  // do something to Complex data
  virtual void OnDoSomething() { ... }
private:
  Complex data;
};

void main()
{
  // alloc data objects
  MyData* myData[ 2 ] =
  {
    new MyIntData()
  , new MyComplexData()
  };

  // process data objects
  for ( int i = 0; i < 2; ++i ) // for each data object
  {
     myData[ i ]->DoSomething(); // no type cast needed
  }

  // delete data objects
  delete myData[0];
  delete myData[1];
};