Efficient C++ Performance Programming Techniques

Object Definition

Say that class Rational is declared as follows:

class Rational
{
friend Rational operator+(const Rational&, const Rational&);
public:
    Rational (int a = 0, int b = 1 ) : m(a), n(b) {}
private:
    int m;  // Numerator
    int n;  // Denominator
};

We can instantiate objects of type Rational in several equivalent ways:

Rational r1(100);              // 1
Rational r2 = Rational(100);   // 2
Rational r3 = 100;             // 3

Only the first form of initialization is guaranteed, across compiler implementations, not to generate a temporary object. If you use forms 2 or 3, you may end up with a temporary, depending on the compiler implementation. Take form 3 for example:

Rational r3 = 100; // 3

This form may lead the compiler to use the Rational::Rational(int, ...