CompuServe Messages

Steve, C++ covers a lot of ground, so I'll only hit a few highlights. 1. Overloaded functions Multiple functions can share the same name as long as their argument lists are different: int abs(int); float abs(float); Calling abs(2.01) would cause the compiler to automatically call the float version. No more need to differentiate between abs() and fabs(). 2. Call-by-reference foo(int& a) { a += 3 }; int d = 0; foo(d); // d now equals 3 3. User-defined classes C++ has expanded the C structure to include not only data-elements, but also all the methods allowed to operate on those elements. These new classes (as they are called) allow the user to define all the standard C operators (+,-,*,++,<<=,->,[],etc.) for the class, as well as constructors and destructors which tell the compiler how to initialize the object when first declared and release the object when it goes out of scope. Further, classes allow elements (and methods) to be declared public (anyone can access them) or private (only accessible within the class). As an example, one of my first projects in C++ was building a list class. The class handled most of the basic list functions (insert, delete, empty, next, prev, first, last), but in order to get it done quickly, I actually used a static array for storage. I then hacked my netnews reader to use the new list stuff. Once that was running, I decided the list class needed to be dynamic, so I modified the list code accordingly. However, since I didn't change the public portion of the list class, the only module I needed to change was the list module. Recompiled and everything worked great. [ MORE ]