CE144
OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING
WITH C++
UNIT-6
Constructors and Destructor
N. A. Shaikh
nishatshaikh.it@charusat.ac.in
Topics to be covered
Introduction to Constructors
Parameterized Constructors
Multiple Constructors in class
Constructors with default argument
Dynamic initialization of Constructors & objects
Copy Constructor
Dynamic Constructor
Destructors
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Introduction
One of the aims of C++ is to create user-defined data
types such as class, that behave very similar to the built-
in types.
This means that we should be able to initialize a class
type variable (object) when it is declared, much the
same way as initialization of an ordinary variable.
Similarly, when a variable of built-in type goes out of
scope, the compiler automatically destroys the
variable.
But it has not happened with the objects we have so far
studied.
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Introduction
It is therefore clear that some more features of classes
need to be explored that would enable us to initialize
the objects when they are created and destroy them
when their presence is no longer necessary.
C++ provides a special member function called the
constructor which enables an object to initialize itself
when it is created. This is known as automatic
initialization of objects.
It also provides another member function called the
destructor that destroys the objects when they are no
longer required.
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Constructors
A constructor is a special member function of a class
which initializes objects of a class.
It is special because its name is the same as the class
name.
Constructor is automatically called/invoked when
object(instance of class) is created.
It is called constructor because it constructs the values
of data members of the class.
It has no return type, so can’t use return keyword.
It must be an instance member function, that is, it can
never be static.
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Characteristics of Constructor
They should be declared in the public section.
They do not have return type, not even void therefore, they
return nothing.
They can not be inherited though derived class can call the
base class constructor.
Like other C++ functions, they can have default arguments.
They can not be virtual.
We can not refer to their address.
An object with a constructor (or destructor) can not be used
as a member of a union.
They make ‘implicit calls’ to the operators new and delete
when memory allocation is required.
NOTE: When a constructor is declared for a class initialization
of the class, objects becomes mandatory.
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Types of Constructor
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Default Constructor
Default constructor is the constructor which doesn’t
take any argument. It has no parameters
Note:
Even if we do not define any constructor explicitly, the
compiler will automatically provide a default
constructor (expects no parameters and has an empty
body) implicitly
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Default Constructor
Above statement not only creates the object but also
initializes its data members m and n to zero.
There is no need to write any statement to invoke the
constructor as we do with the normal member function.
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Default Constructor
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Parameterized Constructor
Parameterized constructor is the constructor which can
take argument(s).
It is used to initialize the various data elements of
different objects with different values when they are
created.
It is used to overload constructors.
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Parameterized Constructor
When an object is declared in a parameterized
constructor, the initial values have to be passed as
arguments to the constructor function.
This can be done in two ways:
1. By calling the constructor explicitly
2. By calling the constructor implicitly
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Parameterized Constructor
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Parameterized Constructor
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Copy Constructor
The parameters of a constructor can be of any type except
that of the class to which it belongs.
However, a constructor can accept a reference to its own
class as a parameter
In such cases, the constructor is called the copy
constructor.
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Copy Constructor
A copy constructor is a member function which
initializes an object using another object of the same
class.
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Copy Constructor
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Copy Constructor
NOTE:
A reference variable has been used as an argument to
the copy constructor.
We can not pass the argument by value to a copy
constructor.
When no copy constructor is defined , the compiler
supplies its own copy constructor.
Two types of copies are produced by the constructor:
1. Shallow copy
2. Deep copy
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Shallow Copy
The default copy constructor can only produce the
shallow copy.
A Shallow copy is defined as the process of creating the
copy of an object by copying data of all the member
variables as it is.
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Shallow Copy
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Deep copy
Deep copy is possible only with user defined copy
constructor.
In user defined copy constructor, we make sure that
pointers (or references) of copied object point to new
memory locations.
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Deep copy
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Let’s Practice
1. Copy Constructor VS Assignment Operator
2. Shallow Copy VS Deep Copy
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Multiple Constructor in a Class
The process of sharing the same name by two or more
functions is referred to as function overloading.
Similarly, when more than one constructor function is
defined in a class, we say that the constructor is
overloaded.
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Multiple Constructor in a Class
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Constructors with Default Arguments
It is possible to define constructors with default arguments
NOTE:
It is important to distinguish between the default
constructor A::A() and the default argument constructor
A::A(int = 0).
The default argument constructor can be called with either
one argument or no arguments.
When called with no arguments, it becomes a default
constructor.
When both these forms are used in a class, it causes
ambiguity for a statement such as
A a;
The ambiguity is whether to 'call' A::A() or A::A(int= 0).
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Constructors with Default Arguments
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Dynamic Initialization of Objects
Class objects can be initialized dynamically too.
The initial value of an object may be provided during
runtime.
Advantage:
We can provide various initialization formats, using
overloaded constructors.
Provides the flexibility of using different format of data
at runtime depending upon the situation.
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Dynamic Initialization of Objects
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Dynamic constructor
Dynamic constructor is used to allocate the memory to
the objects at the run time.
Memory is allocated at run time with the help of 'new'
operator.
By using this constructor, we can dynamically initialize
the objects.
Thus, object is going to use memory region, which is
dynamically created by constructor.
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Dynamic constructor
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const objects
We may create and use constant objects using const
keyword before object declaration.
Any attempt to modify the values of m and n will
generate compile-time error.
Further, a constant object can call only const member
functions.
As we know, a const member is a function prototype or
function definition where the keyword const appears
after the function's signature.
Whenever const objects try to invoke non-const
member functions, the compiler generates errors.
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Destructor
A destructor is used to destroy the objects that have
been created by a constructor
Like constructor, the destructor is a member function
with the same name as the class name but is preceded
by a tilde
A destructor never takes any argument nor does it
return any value
It will be invoked implicitly by the compiler on exit
from the program or block or function as the case may
be to clean up storage that is no longer accessible
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Destructor
It is a good practice to declare destructors in a program
since it releases memory space for further use
Only one destructor is written to destroy all the
constructors
Whenever new is used to allocate memory in the
constructor, we should use delete to free that memory
The primary use of destructors is to free up the
memory reserved by an object before it gets destroyed
Destructor will be called in reverse order of the
constructor creation
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Destructor
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Destructor
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Destructor
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Practical 23: Constructor and Destructor
Write a C++ program having class time with data members: hr,
min and sec.
Define following member functions.
1) getdata() to enter hour, minute and second values
2) putdata() to print the time in the format 11:59:59
3) default constructor
4) parameterized constructor
5) copy constructor
6) Destructor.
Use 52 as default value for sec in parameterized constructor.
Use the concepts of default constructor, parameterized
constructor, Copy constructor, constructor with default
arguments and destructor.
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Practical 23: Constructor and Destructor
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Practical 23: Constructor and Destructor
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Practical 23: Constructor and Destructor
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End of Unit-6
