Chapter 13:

Introduction to
Classes

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 13.1
Procedural and Object-Oriented
Programming

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Procedural and Object-Oriented
Programming
Procedural programming focuses on the
process/actions that occur in a program

Object-Oriented programming is based on

the data and the functions that operate on
it. Objects are instances of ADTs that
represent the data and its functions

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Limitations of Procedural
Programming
If the data structures change, many
functions must also be changed

Programs that are based on complex

function hierarchies are:
difficult to understand and maintain
difficult to modify and extend
easy to break

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Object-Oriented Programming
Terminology
class: like a struct (allows bundling of
related variables), but variables and
functions in the class can have different
properties than in a struct
object: an instance of a class, in the
same way that a variable can be an
instance of a struct

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Classes and Objects
A Class is like a blueprint and objects are
like houses built from the blueprint

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Object-Oriented Programming
Terminology
attributes: members of a class

methods or behaviors: member functions

of a class

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More on Objects
data hiding: restricting access to certain
members of an object

public interface: members of an object that are

available outside of the object. This allows the
object to provide access to some data and
functions without sharing its internal details and
design, and provides some protection from data
corruption

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 13.2
Introduction to Classes

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Introduction to Classes
Objects are created from a class
Format:
class ClassName
{
declaration;
declaration;
};

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Class Example

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Access Specifiers
Used to control access to members of the class

public: can be accessed by functions outside

of the class

private: can only be called by or accessed

by functions that are members of the class

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Class Example

Private Members

Public Members

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More on Access Specifiers
Can be listed in any order in a class

Can appear multiple times in a class

If not specified, the default is private

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Using const With Member Functions

const appearing after the parentheses in

a member function declaration specifies
that the function will not change any data
in the calling object.

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Defining a Member Function
When defining a member function:
Put prototype in class declaration
Define function using class name and scope
resolution operator (::)

int Rectangle::setWidth(double w)
{
width = w;
}

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Accessors and Mutators
Mutator: a member function that stores a
value in a private member variable, or
changes its value in some way

Accessor: function that retrieves a value

from a private member variable.
Accessors do not change an object's data,
so they should be marked const.

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 13.3
Defining an Instance of a Class

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Defining an Instance of a
Class
• An object is an instance of a class
• Defined like structure variables:
Rectangle r;
• Access members using dot operator:
r.setWidth(5.2);
cout << r.getWidth();
• Compiler error if attempt to access
private member using dot operator

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Program 13-1 (Continued)

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Program 13-1 (Continued)

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Program 13-1 (Continued)

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Avoiding Stale Data
Some data is the result of a calculation.
In the Rectangle class the area of a rectangle is
calculated.
length x width
If we were to use an area variable here in the
Rectangle class, its value would be dependent on the
length and the width.
If we change length or width without updating area,
then area would become stale.
To avoid stale data, it is best to calculate the value of
that data within a member function rather than store it in
a variable.

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Pointer to an Object
Can define a pointer to an object:
Rectangle *rPtr = nullptr;

Can access public members via pointer:

rPtr = &otherRectangle;
rPtr->setLength(12.5);
cout << rPtr->getLength() << endl;

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Dynamically Allocating an
Object
We can also use a pointer to dynamically
allocate an object.

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 13.4
Why Have Private Members?

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Why Have Private Members?
Making data members private provides
data protection

Data can be accessed only through

public functions

Public functions define the class’s public

interface

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Code outside the class must use the class's
public member functions to interact with the
object.

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 13.5
Separating Specification from
Implementation

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Separating Specification from
Implementation
Place class declaration in a header file that
serves as the class specification file. Name the
file ClassName.h, for example, Rectangle.h
Place member function definitions in
ClassName.cpp, for example,
Rectangle.cpp File should #include the
class specification file
Programs that use the class must #include
the class specification file, and be compiled and
linked with the member function definitions

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 13.6
Inline Member Functions

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Inline Member Functions
Member functions can be defined
inline: in class declaration
after the class declaration

Inline appropriate for short function bodies:

int getWidth() const
{ return width; }

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Rectangle Class with Inline
Member Functions
1 // Specification file for the Rectangle class
2 // This version uses some inline member functions.
3 #ifndef RECTANGLE_H
4 #define RECTANGLE_H
5
6 class Rectangle
7 {
8 private:
9 double width;
10 double length;
11 public:
12 void setWidth(double);
13 void setLength(double);
14
15 double getWidth() const
16 { return width; }
17
18 double getLength() const
19 { return length; }
20
21 double getArea() const
22 { return width * length; }
23 };
24 #endif

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Tradeoffs – Inline vs. Regular
Member Functions
Regular functions – when called, compiler
stores return address of call, allocates
memory for local variables, etc.

Code for an inline function is copied into

program in place of call – larger
executable program, but no function call
overhead, hence faster execution

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 13.7
Constructors

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Constructors

Member function that is automatically called

when an object is created

Purpose is to construct an object

Constructor function name is class name

Has no return type

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 Continues...
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Contents of Rectangle.ccp Version3

(continued)
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In-Place Initialization
If you are using C++11 or later, you can initialize a
member variable in its declaration statement, just as you
can with a regular variable.
This is known as in-place initialization. Here is an
example:
class Rectangle
{
private:
double width = 0.0;
double length = 0.0;
public:
Public member functions appear here…
};

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Default Constructors
A default constructor is a constructor that takes no
arguments.

If you write a class with no constructor at all, C++ will

write a default constructor for you, one that does nothing.

A simple instantiation of a class (with no arguments)

calls the default constructor:
Rectangle r;

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 13.8
Passing Arguments to
Constructors

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Passing Arguments to
Constructors
To create a constructor that takes arguments:
indicate parameters in prototype:

Rectangle(double, double);

Use parameters in the definition:

Rectangle::Rectangle(double w, double
len)
{
width = w;
length = len;
}
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Passing Arguments to
Constructors
You can pass arguments to the constructor
when you create an object:

Rectangle r(10, 5);

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More About Default
Constructors
If all of a constructor's parameters have default
arguments, then it is a default constructor. For
example:

Rectangle(double = 0, double = 0);

Creating an object and passing no arguments

will cause this constructor to execute:

Rectangle r;

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Classes with No Default
Constructor
When all of a class's constructors require
arguments, then the class has NO default
constructor.

When this is the case, you must pass the

required arguments to the constructor
when creating an object.

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 13.9
Destructors

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Destructors
Member function automatically called when an
object is destroyed
Destructor name is ~classname, e.g.,
~Rectangle
Has no return type; takes no arguments
Only one destructor per class, i.e., it cannot be
overloaded
If constructor allocates dynamic memory,
destructor should release it

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Contents of InventoryItem.h Version1

(continued)

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Constructors, Destructors, and
Dynamically Allocated Objects
When an object is dynamically allocated with the
new operator, its constructor executes:

Rectangle *r = new Rectangle(10, 20);

When the object is destroyed, its destructor

executes:
delete r;

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 13.10
Overloading Constructors

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Overloading Constructors
A class can have more than one constructor

Overloaded constructors in a class must have

different parameter lists:
Rectangle();
Rectangle(double);
Rectangle(double, double);

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 Continues...
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Constructor Delegation
• Sometimes a class will
have multiple
constructors that perform
a similar set of steps. For
example, look at the
following Contact class:

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Constructor Delegation
• Both constructors perform
a similar operation: They
assign values to the
name, email, and phone
member variables.
• The default constructor
assigns empty strings to
the members, and the
parameterized
constructor assigns
specified values to the
members.

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Constructor Delegation
• In C++ 11, it is
possible for one
constructor to call
another constructor in
the same class.
• This is known as
constructor
delegation.

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Only One Default Constructor
and One Destructor
Do not provide more than one default
constructor for a class: one that takes no
arguments and one that has default arguments
for all parameters
Square();
Square(int = 0); // will not compile

Since a destructor takes no arguments, there

can only be one destructor for a class

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Member Function Overloading
Non-constructor member functions can
also be overloaded:
void setCost(double);
void setCost(char *);

Must have unique parameter lists as for

constructors

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 3.11
Using Private Member Functions

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Using Private Member
Functions
A private member function can only be called
by another member function

It is used for internal processing by the class, not

for use outside of the class

See the createDescription function in

ContactInfo.h (Version 2)

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 13.12
Arrays of Objects

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Arrays of Objects

Objects can be the elements of an array:

InventoryItem inventory[40];

Default constructor for object is used

when array is defined

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Arrays of Objects

Must use initializer list to invoke

constructor that takes arguments:

InventoryItem inventory[3] =
{ "Hammer", "Wrench", "Pliers" };

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Arrays of Objects
If the constructor requires more than one
argument, the initializer must take the
form of a function call:

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Arrays of Objects

It isn't necessary to call the same

constructor for each object in an array:

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Accessing Objects in an Array
Objects in an array are referenced using
subscripts

Member functions are referenced using dot

notation:

inventory[2].setUnits(30);
cout << inventory[2].getUnits();

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Program 13-14 (Continued)

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 13.16
The Unified Modeling Language

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The Unified Modeling Language

UML stands for Unified Modeling

Language.

The UML provides a set of standard

diagrams for graphically depicting object-
oriented systems

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UML Class Diagram

A UML diagram for a class has three main

sections.

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Example: A Rectangle Class
class Rectangle
{
private:
double width;
double length;
public:
bool setWidth(double);
bool setLength(double);
double getWidth() const;
double getLength() const;
double getArea() const;
};

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UML Access Specification
Notation
In UML you indicate a private member
with a minus (-) and a public member
with a plus(+).
These member variables are
private.

These member functions are

public.

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UML Data Type Notation

To indicate the data type of a member variable,

place a colon followed by the name of the data
type after the name of the variable.

- width : double
- length : double

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UML Parameter Type
Notation

To indicate the data type of a function’s

parameter variable, place a colon followed
by the name of the data type after the
name of the variable.
+ setWidth(w : double)

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UML Function Return Type
Notation
To indicate the data type of a function’s
return value, place a colon followed by the
name of the data type after the function’s
parameter list.
+ setWidth(w : double) : void

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The Rectangle Class

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 Showing Constructors and
Destructors
No return type listed for
constructors or destructors

Constructors

Destructor

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