The copy constructor and assignment operator

Question

If I override operator= will the copy constructor automatically use the new operator? Similarly, if I define a copy constructor, will operator= automatically 'inherit' the behavior from the copy constructor?

Solution 1

No, they are different operators.

The copy constructor is for creating a new object. It copies an existing object to a newly constructed object.The copy constructor is used to initialize a new instance from an old instance. It is not necessarily called when passing variables by value into functions or as return values out of functions.

The assignment operator is to deal with an already existing object. The assignment operator is used to change an existing instance to have the same values as the rvalue, which means that the instance has to be destroyed and re-initialized if it has internal dynamic memory.

Useful link :

• Copy Constructors, Assignment Operators, and More
• Copy constructor and = operator overload in C++: is a common function possible?

Solution 2

No. Unless you define a copy ctor, a default will be generated (if needed). Unless you define an operator=, a default will be generated (if needed). They do not use each other, and you can change them independently.

Solution 3

No. They are different objects.

If your concern is code duplication between copy constructor and assignment operator, consider the following idiom, named copy and swap :

struct MyClass
{
    MyClass(const MyClass&); // Implement copy logic here
    void swap(MyClass&) throw(); // Implement a lightweight swap here (eg. swap pointers)

    MyClass& operator=(MyClass x)
    {
        x.swap(*this);
        return *this;
    }
};

This way, the operator= will use the copy constructor to build a new object, which will get exchanged with *this and released (with the old this inside) at function exit.

Solution 4

No.

And definitely have a look at the rule of three (or rule of five when taking rvalues into account)

Solution 5

Consider the following C++ program.
Note: My "Vector" class not the one from the standard library.
My "Vector" class interface:

#include <iostream>

class Vector {
private:
    double* elem; // elem points to an array of sz doubles
    int sz;
public:
    Vector(int s);  // constructor: acquire resources
    ~Vector() { delete[] elem; }   // destructor: release resources
    Vector(const Vector& a);               // copy constructor
    Vector& operator=(const Vector& a);    // copy assignment operator
    double& operator[](int i){ return elem[i]; };
    int size() const {return sz;};
};

My "Vector" class members implementation:

Vector::Vector(int s)  // non-default constructor
{
    std::cout << "non-default constructor"<<std::endl;
    elem = {new double[s]};
    sz =s;
    for (int i=0; i!=s; ++i)      // initialize elements
        elem[i]=0;
}

Vector::Vector(const Vector& a)   // copy constructor
        :elem{new double[a.sz]},
         sz{a.sz}
{
    std::cout << "copy constructor"<<std::endl;
    for (int i=0; i!=sz; ++i)    // copy elements
        elem[i] = a.elem[i];
}

Vector& Vector::operator=(const Vector& a)     // copy assignment operator
{
    std::cout << "copy assignment operator"<<std::endl;
    double* p = new double[a.sz];
    for (int i=0; i!=a.sz; ++i)
        p[i] = a.elem[i];
    delete[] elem;         // delete old elements
    elem = p;
    sz = a.sz;
    return *this;
}

int main(){
    Vector v1(1);
    v1[0] = 1024;    // call non-default constructor
   
    Vector v2 = v1;   // call copy constructor  !!!!

    v2[0] = 1025;
    std::cout << "v2[0]=" << v2[0] << std::endl;

    Vector v3{10};  // call non-default constructor
    std::cout << "v3[0]=" << v3[0] << std::endl;

    v3 = v2;     // call copy assignment operator  !!!!
    std::cout << "v3[0]=" << v3[0] << std::endl;
}

Then, the program output:

non-default constructor
copy constructor
v2[0]=1025
non-default constructor
v3[0]=0
copy assignment operator
v3[0]=1025

To wrap up:

1. Vector v2 = v1; lead to call copy constructor.
2. v3 = v2; lead to call copy assignment operator.

In case 2, Object v3 already exists (We have done: Vector v3{10};). There are two obvious differences between copy constructor and copy assignment operator.

• copy constructor NO NEED to delete old elements, it just copy construct a new object. (as it Vector v2)
• copy constructor NO NEED to return the this pointer.(Furthermore, all the constructor does not return a value).

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