templates - Writing a very simple event class in C++ -

i'm trying write simple event or message class in c++. want event hold time of occurrence , data specific event type. have @ moment following

  class eventdata{ public:     virtual ~eventdata(void) = 0; };  struct event{     event(eventtype type, time time, eventdata *data = nullptr):         type_(type), time_(time), data_(data)     {}     ~event(void){         if(data_) delete data_;     }     //disable copying, event memory managed eventmanager     event(const event& other) = delete;      const eventtype  type_;     const time       time_;     const eventdata *data_; };  

in main loop, have this,

  bool running = true; while(running){     const event* nextevent = evtmanager.getnextevent();     switch(nextevent.type_){     case evt_a:         const eventadata* data = static_cast<eventadata*>(nextevent.data_);         //do stuff         break;     }     ...     case evt_end:         running = false;         break;     } }  

the question if there more efficient way of doing this, i.e. templates. other problem accidentally give wrong eventtype, eventdata pair, in case static_cast fail.

i should note want event class fast possible, access time_ member variable.

1. there no need check whether pointer null before deleting it.
2. you trying perform type-erasing, , perform different tasks depending on type erased. it's inefficient. boost::variant instead, seems it's need.
3. if insist on using method, should use typeid discriminate between types.