What is the difference between Initializing and Assignment inside a constructor?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1711990/what-is-this-weird-colon-member-syntax-in-the-constructor 


Foo(int num): bar(num)    

This construct is called a Member Initializer List in C++.

Simply said, it initializes your member bar to a value num.


What is the difference between Initializing and Assignment inside a constructor?

Member Initialization:

Foo(int num): bar(num) {};

Member Assignment:

Foo(int num)
{
   bar = num;
}

There is a significant difference between Initializing a member using Member initializer list and assigning it an value inside the constructor body.

When you initialize fields via Member initializer list the constructors will be called once and the object will be constructed and initialized in one operation.

If you use assignment then the fields will be first initialized with default constructors and then reassigned (via assignment operator) with actual values.

As you see there is an additional overhead of creation & assignment in the latter, which might be considerable for user defined classes.

Cost of Member Initialization = Object Construction 
Cost of Member Assignment = Object Construction + Assignment

The latter is actually equivalent to:

Foo(int num) : bar() {bar = num;}

While the former is equivalent to just:

Foo(int num): bar(num){}

For an inbuilt (your code example) or POD class members there is no practical overhead.


When do you HAVE TO use Member Initializer list?

You will have(rather forced) to use a Member Initializer list if:

  • Your class has a reference member
  • Your class has a non static const member or
  • Your class member doesn't have a default constructor or
  • For initialization of base class members or
  • When constructor’s parameter name is same as data member(this is not really a MUST)

A code example:

class MyClass
{
    public:
        //Reference member, has to be Initialized in Member Initializer List
        int &i;       
        int b;
        //Non static const member, must be Initialized in Member Initializer List
        const int k;  

    //Constructor’s parameter name b is same as class data member 
    //Other way is to use this->b to refer to data member
    MyClass(int a, int b, int c):i(a),b(b),k(c)
    {
         //Without Member Initializer
         //this->b = b;
    }
};

class MyClass2:public MyClass
{
    public:
        int p;
        int q;
        MyClass2(int x,int y,int z,int l,int m):MyClass(x,y,z),p(l),q(m)
        {
        }

};

int main()
{
    int x = 10;
    int y = 20;
    int z = 30;
    MyClass obj(x,y,z);

    int l = 40;
    int m = 50;
    MyClass2 obj2(x,y,z,l,m);

    return 0;
}
  • MyClass2 doesn't have a default constructor so it has to be initialized through member initializer list.
  • Base class MyClass does not have a default constructor, So to initialize its member one will need to use Member Initializer List.

Online version of code sample.


Important points to Note while using Member Initializer Lists:

Class Member variables are always initialized in the order in which they are declared in the class.

They are not initialized in the order in which they are specified in the Member Initalizer List.
In short, Member initialization list does not determine the order of initialization.

Given the above it is always a good practice to maintain the same order of members for Member initialization as the order in which they are declared in the class definition. This is because compilers do not warn if the two orders are different but a relatively new user might confuse member Initializer list as the order of initialization and write some code dependent on that.

   

1、资源项目源码均已通过严格测试验证,保证能够正常运行; 2、项目问题、技术讨论,可以给博主私信或留言,博主看到后会第一时间与您进行沟通; 3、本项目比较适合计算机领域相关的毕业设计课题、课程作业等使用,尤其对于人工智能、计算机科学与技术等相关专业,更为适合; 4、下载使用后,可先查看REAdMe.md或论文文件(如有),本项目仅用作交流学习参考,请切勿用于商业用途。 5、资源来自互联网采集,如有侵权,私聊博主删除。 6、可私信博主看论文后选择购买源代码。 1、资源项目源码均已通过严格测试验证,保证能够正常运行; 2、项目问题、技术讨论,可以给博主私信或留言,博主看到后会第一时间与您进行沟通; 3、本项目比较适合计算机领域相关的毕业设计课题、课程作业等使用,尤其对于人工智能、计算机科学与技术等相关专业,更为适合; 4、下载使用后,可先查看REAdMe.md或论文文件(如有),本项目仅用作交流学习参考,请切勿用于商业用途。 5、资源来自互联网采集,如有侵权,私聊博主删除。 6、可私信博主看论文后选择购买源代码。 1、资源项目源码均已通过严格测试验证,保证能够正常运行; 2、项目问题、技术讨论,可以给博主私信或留言,博主看到后会第一时间与您进行沟通; 3、本项目比较适合计算机领域相关的毕业设计课题、课程作业等使用,尤其对于人工智能、计算机科学与技术等相关专业,更为适合; 4、下载使用后,可先查看READme.md或论文文件(如有),本项目仅用作交流学习参考,请切勿用于商业用途。 5、资源来自互联网采集,如有侵权,私聊博主删除。 6、可私信博主看论文后选择购买源代码。
评论
添加红包

请填写红包祝福语或标题

红包个数最小为10个

红包金额最低5元

当前余额3.43前往充值 >
需支付:10.00
成就一亿技术人!
领取后你会自动成为博主和红包主的粉丝 规则
hope_wisdom
发出的红包
实付
使用余额支付
点击重新获取
扫码支付
钱包余额 0

抵扣说明:

1.余额是钱包充值的虚拟货币,按照1:1的比例进行支付金额的抵扣。
2.余额无法直接购买下载,可以购买VIP、付费专栏及课程。

余额充值