typedef int data;

class data_provider {

public:
    virtual data get_data() = 0;
};

class specific_data_provider : public data_provider {
public:
    data get_data() {
    return 7;
    }
};

class my_device {
public:
    data_provider * dp;
    data d;

    my_device (data_provider * adp) {
    dp = adp;
    d = 0;
    }

    void update() {
    d = dp->get_data();
    }
};

int
main() {
    specific_data_provider sdp;
    my_device dev(&sdp);

    dev.update();

    printf("d = %dn", dev.d);

    return 0;
}

struct A { int x; };
struct B : A { int y; };
struct C { int x, y; };

struct A { virtual ~A(); };
struct B : A { ... };