C++ Programming Code Examples

In C++, constructor is a special method which is invoked automatically at the time of object creation. It is used to initialize the data members of new object generally. The constructor in C++ has the same name as class or structure. Constructors are special class functions which performs initialization of every object. The Compiler calls the Constructor whenever an object is created. Constructors initialize values to object members after storage is allocated to the object. Whereas, Destructor on the other hand is used to destroy the class object. • Default Constructor: A constructor which has no argument is known as default constructor. It is invoked at the time of creating object. • Parameterized Constructor: In C++, a constructor with parameters is known as a parameterized constructor. This is the preferred method to initialize member data. These are the constructors with parameter. Using this Constructor you can provide different values to data members of different objects, by passing the appropriate values as argument. • Copy Constructors: These are special type of Constructors which takes an object as argument, and is used to copy values of data members of one object into other object. The copy constructor is a constructor which creates an object by initializing it with an object of the same class, which has been created previously. The copy constructor is used to - • Initialize one object from another of the same type. • Copy an object to pass it as an argument to a function. • Copy an object to return it from a function. If a copy constructor is not defined in a class, the compiler itself defines one.If the class has pointer variables and has some dynamic memory allocations, then it is a must to have a copy constructor. The most common form of copy constructor is shown here.

The main purpose of C++ programming is to add object orientation to the C programming language and classes are the central feature of C++ that supports object-oriented programming and are often called user-defined types. A class is used to specify the form of an object and it combines data representation and methods for manipulating that data into one neat package. The data and functions within a class are called members of the class. When you define a class, you define a blueprint for a data type. This doesn't actually define any data, but it does define what the class name means, that is, what an object of the class will consist of and what operations can be performed on such an object. A class definition starts with the keyword class followed by the class name; and the class body, enclosed by a pair of curly braces. A class definition must be followed either by a semicolon or a list of declarations. For example, we defined the Box data type using the keyword class as follows: The keyword public determines the access attributes of the members of the class that follows it. A public member can be accessed from outside the class anywhere within the scope of the class object. You can also specify the members of a class as private or protected which we will discuss in a sub-section. A class provides the blueprints for objects, so basically an object is created from a class. We declare objects of a class with exactly the same sort of declaration that we declare variables of basic types. Following statements declare two objects of class Box: Both of the objects Box1 and Box2 will have their own copy of data members. The public data members of objects of a class can be accessed using the direct member access operator (.). It is important to note that private and protected members can not be accessed directly using direct member access operator (.). There are further interesting concepts related to C++ Classes and Objects which we will discuss in various sub-sections listed below: • Class Member Functions: A member function of a class is a function that has its definition or its prototype within the class definition like any other variable. • Class Access Modifiers: A class member can be defined as public, private or protected. By default members would be assumed as private. • Constructor & Destructor: A class constructor is a special function in a class that is called when a new object of the class is created. A destructor is also a special function which is called when created object is deleted. • Copy Constructor: The copy constructor is a constructor which creates an object by initializing it with an object of the same class, which has been created previously. • Friend Functions: A friend function is permitted full access to private and protected members of a class. • Inline Functions: With an inline function, the compiler tries to expand the code in the body of the function in place of a call to the function. • this Pointer: Every object has a special pointer this which points to the object itself. • Pointer to C++ Classes: A pointer to a class is done exactly the same way a pointer to a structure is. In fact a class is really just a structure with functions in it. • Static Members of a Class: Both data members and function members of a class can be declared as static.

The C++ comments are statements that are not executed by the compiler. The comments in C++ programming can be used to provide explanation of the code, variable, method or class. If we write comments on our code, it will be easier for us to understand the code in the future. Also, it will be easier for your fellow developers to understand the code. By the help of comments, you can hide the program code also. There are two types of comments in C++: • Single Line comment • Multi Line comment The single line comment starts with // (double slash). C++ multi line comment is used to comment multiple lines of code. It is surrounded by slash and asterisk (/* ..... */). Comments shouldn't be the substitute for a way to explain poorly written code in English. We should always write well-structured and self-explanatory code. And, then use comments.

Encapsulation is a process of combining data members and functions in a single unit called class. This is to prevent the access to the data directly, the access to them is provided through the functions of the class. It is one of the popular feature of Object Oriented Programming(OOPs) that helps in data hiding. • In C++, the encapsulation is a process of combining data members and functions in a single unit known as class. • This is to prevent the access to the data directly and the access to them is provided through the function of the class. It is one of the most important features of object oriented programming that helps in data hiding. • The data encapsulation is a mechanism packing the data and the functions that use them in a single unit and data abstraction is a mechanism of exposing only the interfaces and hiding the implementation details from the user. • The C++ supports the properties of encapsulation and data hiding through the creation of user-defined types, called classes. We can achieve the encapsulation in two ways: • Create set and get functions as public for each data member in such a way that the set function set the value for the data member and get function get the value for the data member. • Making the entire data members private. • It helps to protect the data as the person cannot change the data if it is encapsulated. • You can change the privacy of the data according to the requirement without changing the whole program by using the access modifiers. • Encapsulated class reduces the complexity. Encapsulation: It is done at the implementation level. It is used to protect the data from the outside world. It is implemented using access modifier (public, private and protected) Abstraction: It is done at the design level. It is used to hide the background details. It is implemented using abstract class and interface.