If you study the MFC library hierarchy, you'll notice that the CObject class is at the top. Most other classes are derived from the CObject root class. When a class is derived from CObject, it inherits a number of important characteristics. The many benefits of CObject derivation will become clear as you read the chapters that follow.
In this chapter, you'll see how CObject derivation allows objects to participate in the diagnostic dumping scheme and allows objects to be elements in the collection classes.