There are two kinds of copying: a deep copy and a shallow copy of objects. The language allows us to manage copy-initialization and the assignment of objects with the copy constructor and the assignment operator. This is a necessary feature for programmers because we can control the semantics of copying. Take a look at the following example:
Product p1;Product p2;p2.set_price(4.2);p1 = p2; // p1 now has the same priceProduct p3 = p2; // p3 has the same price
The line p1 = p2; is a call to the assignment operator, while the last line is a call to the copy constructor. The equals sign shouldn't confuse you regarding whether it's an assignment or a copy constructor call. Each time you see a declaration followed by an assignment, ...
