How do I make this C++ object non-copyable?
#include <boost/utility.hpp>
class Foo : boost::noncopyable {...
But as Scott Meyers once said..."It's a fine class, it's just that I find the name a bit un, err non natural", or something like that.
class Foo {
private:
Foo();
Foo( const Foo& ); // non construction-copyable
Foo& operator=( const Foo& ); // non copyable
public:
static Foo* create();
}
If you're using boost, you can also inherit from noncopyable : http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_41_0/boost/noncopyable.hpp
EDIT: C++11 version if you have a compiler supporting this feature:
class Foo {
private:
Foo();
public:
Foo( const Foo& ) = delete; // non construction-copyable
Foo& operator=( const Foo& ) = delete; // non copyable
static Foo* create();
}
Note that deleted methods should be public: https://isocpp.github.io/CppCoreGuidelines/CppCoreGuidelines#Rc-delete
In C++11, you can explicitly disable the creation of default copy and assignment constructor by placing = delete
after the declaration.
From Wikipedia:
struct NonCopyable {
NonCopyable() = default;
NonCopyable(const NonCopyable&) = delete;
NonCopyable & operator=(const NonCopyable&) = delete;
};
The same goes for classes of course.
Make the copy constructor and the assignment operator private as well. Just the declaration is enough, you don't have to provide an implementation.