Editing Constructor (object-oriented programming) (section)

=== C++ ===
In [[C++]], the name of the constructor is the name of the class. It returns nothing. It can have parameters like any [[Method (computer programming)|member function]]. Constructor functions are usually declared in the public section, but can also be declared in the protected and private sections, if the user wants to restrict access to them.

The constructor has two parts. First is the [[initializer list]] which follows the [[parameter (computer science)|parameter list]] and before the method body. It starts with a colon and entries are comma-separated. The initializer list is not required, but offers the opportunity to provide values for data members and avoid separate assignment statements. The initializer list is required if you have ''const'' or reference type data members, or members that do not have parameterless constructor logic. Assignments occur according to the order in which data members are declared (even if the order in the initializer list is different).<ref>https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1242830/constructor-initialization-list-evaluation-order Constructor</ref> The second part is the body, which is a normal method body enclosed in curly brackets.

C++ allows more than one constructor. The other constructors must have different parameters. Additionally constructors which contain parameters which are given default values, must adhere to the restriction that not all parameters are given a default value. This is a situation which only matters if there is a default constructor. The constructor of a [[base class]] (or base classes) can also be called by a derived class. Constructor functions are not inherited and their addresses cannot be referenced. When memory allocation is required, the ''new'' and ''delete'' operators are called implicitly.

A copy constructor has a parameter of the same type passed as ''const'' reference, for example ''Vector(const Vector& rhs)''. If it is not provided explicitly, the compiler uses the copy constructor for each member variable or simply copies values in case of primitive types. The default implementation is not efficient if the class has dynamically allocated members (or handles to other resources), because it can lead to double calls to ''delete'' (or double release of resources) upon destruction.

<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
class Foobar {
 public:
  Foobar(double r = 1.0,
         double alpha = 0.0)  // Constructor, parameters with default values.
      : x_(r * cos(alpha))    // <- Initializer list
  {
    y_ = r * sin(alpha);  // <- Normal assignment
  }

 private:
  double x_;
  double y_;
};
</syntaxhighlight>
Example invocations:
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
Foobar a,
       b(3),
       c(5, M_PI/4);
</syntaxhighlight>

On returning objects from functions or passing objects by value, the objects copy constructor will be called implicitly, unless [[return value optimization]] applies.

C++ implicitly generates a default copy constructor which will call the copy constructors for all base classes and all member variables unless the programmer provides one, explicitly deletes the copy constructor (to prevent cloning) or one of the base classes or member variables copy constructor is deleted or not accessible (private). Most cases calling for a customized '''copy constructor''' (e.g. [[reference counting]], [[deep copy]] of pointers) also require customizing the '''destructor''' and the '''copy assignment operator'''. This is commonly referred to as the [[Rule of three (C++ programming)|Rule of three]].