-> versus . c++ code example

Example: arrow operator c++

/* 
 the arrow operator is used for accessing members (fields or methods)
 of a class or struct
 
 it dereferences the type, and then performs an element selection (dot) operation
*/

#include <iostream>
using std::cout;

class Entity {
public:
	const char* name = nullptr;
private:
	int x, y;
public:
	Entity(int x, int y, const char* name)
		: x(x), y(y), name(name) {
		printEntityPosition(this); // "this" just means a pointer to the current Entity
	}

	int getX() { return x; }
	int getY() { return y; }

	friend void printEntityPosition(Entity* e);

};

// accessing methods using arrow
void printEntityPosition(Entity* e) {
	cout << "Position: " << e->getX() << ", " << e->getY() << "\n";
}

int main() {
	/* ----- ARROW ----- */

	Entity* pointer = new Entity(1, 1, "Fred");
	//printEntityPosition(pointer); redacted for redundancy (say that 5 times fast)
	
  	cout << (*pointer).name << "\n"; // behind the scenes
	cout << pointer->name << "\n"; // print the name (with an arrow)

	/* ----- NOT ARROW ----- */

	Entity not_a_pointer(2, 2, "Derf");
	//printEntityPosition(&not_a_pointer); & to convert to pointer

	cout << not_a_pointer.name << "\n"; // print the name (with a dot)

	/* ----- LITERALLY NEITHER ----- */

	std::cin.get(); // wait for input
	return 0; // exit program
}