Cpp Constructors

C++ constructors

Created By: chatGPT

In C++, constructors are special member functions that are automatically invoked when an object of a class is created. They are used to initialize an object's attributes and allocate resources as necessary. Constructors have the same name as the class and do not have a return type.

class MyClass {
public:
    MyClass() {
        // Default constructor
        std::cout << "Object created!" << std::endl;
    }
};

You can also define parameterized constructors that take arguments to initialize an object with specific values. This allows for greater flexibility in object creation.

class MyClass {
private:
    int value;
public:
    MyClass(int v) {
        value = v;
        std::cout << "Object created with value: " << value << std::endl;
    }
};

It's also possible to have multiple constructors in a class, making use of constructor overloading. This means that you can define multiple constructors with different signatures.

class MyClass {
public:
    MyClass() {
        std::cout << "Default constructor called" << std::endl;
    }
    MyClass(int v) {
        std::cout << "Parameterized constructor called with: " << v << std::endl;
    }
};

In cases where you need to copy an object, you can define a copy constructor. The copy constructor creates a new object as a copy of an existing object.

class MyClass {
private:
    int value;
public:
    MyClass(int v) : value(v) {}
    MyClass(const MyClass &obj) {
        value = obj.value;
        std::cout << "Copy constructor called" << std::endl;
    }
};

Lastly, destructors are used to free resources when an object goes out of scope. A destructor has the same name as the class but is preceded by a tilde (~) and does not take any parameters.

class MyClass {
public:
    MyClass() {
        std::cout << "Object created!" << std::endl;
    }
    ~MyClass() {
        std::cout << "Object destroyed!" << std::endl;
    }
};