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C++ In a Nutshell
book

C++ In a Nutshell

by Ray Lischner
May 2003
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
808 pages
32h 24m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from C++ In a Nutshell

Name

friend specifier — Grants access to private class members

Synopsis

               decl-specifier := friend

The friend specifier declares a friend function, class, or template. A friend declaration can appear only in a class or class template definition. A friend has full access to the private members of the class that contains the friend declaration. A friend function declaration can be a function definition.

If a class template contains a friend declaration, all instantiations of the template grant friendship. If the friend is a template declaration, all instantiations of the template are friends. If the friend is a template specialization or instantiation, only that specialization or instantiation is a friend.

Friendship is not transitive, nor is it inherited.

Example

class list {friend bool operator==(const list& a, const list& b);
  friend class node;
  ...
};

See Also

class, declaration, template, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 059600298XSupplemental ContentErrata Page