Object array initialization without default constructor
You can create an array of pointers.
Car** mycars = new Car*[userInput];
for (int i=0; i<userInput; i++){
mycars[i] = new Car(...);
}
...
for (int i=0; i<userInput; i++){
delete mycars[i];
}
delete [] mycars;
or
Car() constructor does not need to be public. Add a static method to your class that builds an array:
static Car* makeArray(int length){
return new Car[length];
}
Nope.
But lo! If you use std::vector<Car>
, like you should be (never ever use new[]
), then you can specify exactly how elements should be constructed*.
*Well sort of. You can specify the value of which to make copies of.
Like this:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
class Car
{
private:
Car(); // if you don't use it, you can just declare it to make it private
int _no;
public:
Car(int no) :
_no(no)
{
// use an initialization list to initialize members,
// not the constructor body to assign them
}
void printNo()
{
// use whitespace, itmakesthingseasiertoread
std::cout << _no << std::endl;
}
};
int main()
{
int userInput = 10;
// first method: userInput copies of Car(5)
std::vector<Car> mycars(userInput, Car(5));
// second method:
std::vector<Car> mycars; // empty
mycars.reserve(userInput); // optional: reserve the memory upfront
for (int i = 0; i < userInput; ++i)
mycars.push_back(Car(i)); // ith element is a copy of this
// return 0 is implicit on main's with no return statement,
// useful for snippets and short code samples
}
With the additional function:
void printCarNumbers(Car *cars, int length)
{
for(int i = 0; i < length; i++) // whitespace! :)
std::cout << cars[i].printNo();
}
int main()
{
// ...
printCarNumbers(&mycars[0], mycars.size());
}
Note printCarNumbers
really should be designed differently, to accept two iterators denoting a range.
You can use placement-new like this:
class Car
{
int _no;
public:
Car(int no) : _no(no)
{
}
};
int main()
{
void *raw_memory = operator new[](NUM_CARS * sizeof(Car));
Car *ptr = static_cast<Car *>(raw_memory);
for (int i = 0; i < NUM_CARS; ++i) {
new(&ptr[i]) Car(i);
}
// destruct in inverse order
for (int i = NUM_CARS - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
ptr[i].~Car();
}
operator delete[](raw_memory);
return 0;
}
Reference from More Effective C++ - Scott Meyers:
Item 4 - Avoid gratuitous default constructors
In C++11's std::vector
you can instantiate elements in-place using emplace_back
:
std::vector<Car> mycars;
for (int i = 0; i < userInput; ++i)
{
mycars.emplace_back(i + 1); // pass in Car() constructor arguments
}
Voila!
Car() default constructor never invoked.
Deletion will happen automatically when mycars
goes out of scope.