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In the C++ programming language, a copy constructor is a special constructor for creating a new object as a copy of an existing object. Copy constructors are the standard way of copying objects in C++, as opposed to cloning , and have C++-specific nuances.
A Copy constructor has one formal parameter that is the type of the class (the parameter may be a reference to an object). It is used to create a copy of an existing object of the same class. Even though both classes are the same, it counts as a conversion constructor. While copy constructors are usually abbreviated copy ctor or cctor, they ...
Default constructor if no other constructor is explicitly declared. Copy constructor if no move constructor and move assignment operator are explicitly declared. If a destructor is declared generation of a copy constructor is deprecated (C++11, proposal N3242 [2]).
The resulting object is called an object copy or simply copy of the original object. Copying is basic but has subtleties and can have significant overhead. There are several ways to copy an object, most commonly by a copy constructor or cloning. Copying is done mostly so the copy can be modified or moved, or the current value preserved.
With the advent of C++11 the rule of three can be broadened to the rule of five (also known as "the rule of the big five" [5]) as C++11 implements move semantics, [6] allowing destination objects to grab (or steal) data from temporary objects. The following example also shows the new moving members: move constructor and move assignment operator.
Type errors (such as an attempt to apply the ++ increment operator to a Boolean variable in Java) and undeclared variable errors are sometimes considered to be syntax errors when they are detected at compile-time.
The copy constructor and assignment operators of auto_ptr do not actually copy the stored pointer. Instead, they transfer it , leaving the prior auto_ptr object empty. This was one way to implement strict ownership, so that only one auto_ptr object can own the pointer at any given time.
The C++ examples in this section demonstrate the principle of using composition and interfaces to achieve code reuse and polymorphism. Due to the C++ language not having a dedicated keyword to declare interfaces, the following C++ example uses inheritance from a pure abstract base class .