Does New[] Call Default Constructor in C++

Does new[] call default constructor in C++?

See the accepted answer to a very similar question. When you use new[] each element is initialized by the default constructor except when the type is a built-in type. Built-in types are left unitialized by default.

To have built-in type array default-initialized use

new int[size]();

Does the `new` operator always call the constructor?

If you search for constructor on the linked MSDN page, it says this:

When new is used to allocate memory for a C++ class object, the object's constructor is called after the memory is allocated.

In other words, a constructor is called if one exists. If none exists, none is called.

Object array initialization without default constructor

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.

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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.

Why explicitly call a constructor in C++

Most often, in a child class constructor that require some parameters :

class BaseClass
{
public:
    BaseClass( const std::string& name ) : m_name( name ) { }

    const std::string& getName() const { return m_name; }

private:

    const std::string m_name;

//...

};

class DerivedClass : public BaseClass
{
public:

    DerivedClass( const std::string& name ) : BaseClass( name ) { }

// ...
};

class TestClass : 
{
public:
    TestClass( int testValue ); //...
};

class UniqueTestClass 
     : public BaseClass
     , public TestClass
{
public:
    UniqueTestClass() 
       : BaseClass( "UniqueTest" ) 
       , TestClass( 42 )
    { }

// ...
};

... for example.

Other than that, I don't see the utility. I only did call the constructor in other code when I was too young to know what I was really doing...

Can I call a constructor from another constructor (do constructor chaining) in C++?

C++11: Yes!

C++11 and onwards has this same feature (called delegating constructors).

The syntax is slightly different from C#:

class Foo {
public: 
  Foo(char x, int y) {}
  Foo(int y) : Foo('a', y) {}
};

C++03: No

Unfortunately, there's no way to do this in C++03, but there are two ways of simulating this:

1. You can combine two (or more) constructors via default parameters:

   class Foo {
   public:
     Foo(char x, int y=0);  // combines two constructors (char) and (char, int)
     // ...
   };
   

2. Use an init method to share common code:

   class Foo {
   public:
     Foo(char x);
     Foo(char x, int y);
     // ...
   private:
     void init(char x, int y);
   };
   
   Foo::Foo(char x)
   {
     init(x, int(x) + 7);
     // ...
   }
   
   Foo::Foo(char x, int y)
   {
     init(x, y);
     // ...
   }
   
   void Foo::init(char x, int y)
   {
     // ...
   }
   

See the C++FAQ entry for reference.

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