static_cast

[abdul]

return static_cast<SpellCheckerInterface2*>(this); 

What does static_cast<> part do in the above code and how is it different from this:

return (SpellCheckerInterface2*)this; 

[crptcblade]

MSDN says :
static_cast Operator
C++ Specific —>

static_cast < type-id > ( expression )

The expression static_cast < type-id > ( expression ) converts expression to the type of type-id based solely on the types present in the expression. No run-time type check is made to ensure the safety of the conversion.

END C++ Specific

If you can make sense of that...