C++ For Dummies, 7th Edition

Chapter 16

Making Constructive Arguments

In This Chapter

Making argumentative constructors

Overloading the constructor

Creating objects by using constructors

Invoking member constructors

Constructing the order of construction and destruction

A class represents a type of object in the real world. For example, in earlier chapters, I use the class Student to represent the properties of a student. Just like students, classes are autonomous. Unlike a student, a class is responsible for its own care and feeding — a class must keep itself in a valid state at all times.

The default constructor presented in Chapter 15 isn't always enough. For example, a default constructor can initialize the student ID to 0 so that it doesn't contain a random value; however, a Student ID of 0 is probably not valid.

C++ programmers require a constructor that accepts some type of argument to initialize an object to other than its default value. This chapter examines constructors with arguments.

Outfitting Constructors ...