Reference

Create a Class

To create a class, use the class keyword and end the class definition with a semicolon ;.

Example

class MyClass {       // The class
  public:             // Access specifier
    int myNum;        // Attribute (int variable)
    string myString;  // Attribute (string variable)
};

Create an Object

To create an object of MyClass, specify the class name, followed by the object name. To access the class attributes (myNum and myString), use the dot syntax (.) on the object:

Example

class MyClass {       // The class
  public:             // Access specifier
    int myNum;        // Attribute (int variable)
    string myString;  // Attribute (string variable)
};

int main() {
  MyClass myObj;  // Create an object of MyClass

  // Access attributes and set values
  myObj.myNum = 15; 
  myObj.myString = "Some text";

  // Print attribute values
  cout << myObj.myNum << "\n";
  cout << myObj.myString;
  return 0;
}

Create Multiple Objects

You can create multiple objects of one class:

Example

// Create a Car class with some attributes
class Car {
  public:
    string brand;   
    string model;
    int year;
};

int main() {
  // Create an object of Car
  Car carObj1;
  carObj1.brand = "BMW";
  carObj1.model = "X5";
  carObj1.year = 1999;

  // Create another object of Car
  Car carObj2;
  carObj2.brand = "Ford";
  carObj2.model = "Mustang";
  carObj2.year = 1969;

  // Print attribute values
  cout << carObj1.brand << " " << carObj1.model << " " << carObj1.year << "\n";
  cout << carObj2.brand << " " << carObj2.model << " " << carObj2.year << "\n";
  return 0;
}

Class Methods

Methods are functions that belongs to the class.

There are two ways to define functions that belongs to a class:

Inside class definition
Outside class definition

Inside Example

class MyClass {        // The class
  public:              // Access specifier
    void myMethod() {  // Method/function defined inside the class
      cout << "Hello World!";
    }
};

int main() {
  MyClass myObj;     // Create an object of MyClass
  myObj.myMethod();  // Call the method
  return 0;
}

Outside Example

To define a function outside the class definition, you have to declare it inside the class and then define it outside of the class. This is done by specifiying the name of the class, followed the scope resolution :: operator, followed by the name of the function:

class MyClass {        // The class
  public:              // Access specifier
    void myMethod();   // Method/function declaration
};

// Method/function definition outside the class
void MyClass::myMethod() {
  cout << "Hello World!";
}

int main() {
  MyClass myObj;     // Create an object of MyClass
  myObj.myMethod();  // Call the method
  return 0;
}

Method Parameters

You can also add parameters:

Example

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Car {
  public:
    int speed(int maxSpeed);
};

int Car::speed(int maxSpeed) {
  return maxSpeed;
}

int main() {
  Car myObj; // Create an object of Car
  cout << myObj.speed(200); // Call the method with an argument
  return 0;
}

Constructors

A constructor in C++ is a special method that is automatically called when an object of a class is created. To create a constructor, use the same name as the class, followed by parentheses ():

Example

class MyClass {     // The class
  public:           // Access specifier
    MyClass() {     // Constructor
      cout << "Hello World!";
    }
};

int main() {
  MyClass myObj;    // Create an object of MyClass (this will call the constructor)
  return 0;
}

Note: The constructor has the same name as the class, it is always public, and it does not have any return value.

Constructor Parameters

Constructors can also take parameters which can be useful for setting initial values for attributes.

Example

class Car {        // The class
  public:          // Access specifier
    string brand;  // Attribute
    string model;  // Attribute
    int year;      // Attribute
    Car(string x, string y, int z) { // Constructor with parameters
      brand = x;
      model = y;
      year = z;
    }
};

int main() {
  // Create Car objects and call the constructor with different values
  Car carObj1("BMW", "X5", 1999);
  Car carObj2("Ford", "Mustang", 1969);

  // Print values
  cout << carObj1.brand << " " << carObj1.model << " " << carObj1.year << "\n";
  cout << carObj2.brand << " " << carObj2.model << " " << carObj2.year << "\n";
  return 0;
}

Just like functions, constructors can also be defined outside the class. First, declare the constructor inside the class, and then define it outside of the class by specifying the name of the class, followed by the scope resolution :: operator, followed by the name of the constructor (which is the same as the class):

Example

class Car {        // The class
  public:          // Access specifier
    string brand;  // Attribute
    string model;  // Attribute
    int year;      // Attribute
    Car(string x, string y, int z); // Constructor declaration
};

// Constructor definition outside the class
Car::Car(string x, string y, int z) {
  brand = x;
  model = y;
  year = z;
}

int main() {
  // Create Car objects and call the constructor with different values
  Car carObj1("BMW", "X5", 1999);
  Car carObj2("Ford", "Mustang", 1969);

  // Print values
  cout << carObj1.brand << " " << carObj1.model << " " << carObj1.year << "\n";
  cout << carObj2.brand << " " << carObj2.model << " " << carObj2.year << "\n";
  return 0;
}

Access Specifiers

In C++, there are three access specifiers:

public – members are accessible from outside the class
private – members cannot be accessed (or viewed) from outside the class
protected – members cannot be accessed from outside the class, however, they can be accessed in inherited classes.

Encapsulation

The meaning of Encapsulation, is to make sure that “sensitive” data is hidden from users. To achieve this, you must declare class variables/attributes as private (cannot be accessed from outside the class). If you want others to read or modify the value of a private member, you can provide public get and set methods.

Inheritance

In C++, it is possible to inherit attributes and methods from one class to another. We group the “inheritance concept” into two categories:

derived class (child) – the class that inherits from another class
base class (parent) – the class being inherited from

To inherit from a class, use the : symbol.

Example

// Base class
class Vehicle {
  public:
    string brand = "Ford";
    void honk() {
      cout << "Tuut, tuut! \n" ;
    }
};

// Derived class
class Car: public Vehicle {
  public:
    string model = "Mustang";
};

int main() {
  Car myCar;
  myCar.honk();
  cout << myCar.brand + " " + myCar.model;
  return 0;
}

Multilevel Inheritance

A class can also be derived from one class, which is already derived from another class.

In the following example, MyGrandChild is derived from class MyChild (which is derived from MyClass).

Example

// Base class (parent)
class MyClass {
  public:
    void myFunction() {
      cout << "Some content in parent class." ;
    }
};

// Derived class (child)
class MyChild: public MyClass {
};

// Derived class (grandchild)
class MyGrandChild: public MyChild {
};

int main() {
  MyGrandChild myObj;
  myObj.myFunction();
  return 0;
}

Multiple Inheritance

A class can also be derived from more than one base class, using a comma-separated list:

Example

// Base class
class MyClass {
  public:
    void myFunction() {
      cout << "Some content in parent class." ;
    }
};

// Another base class
class MyOtherClass {
  public:
    void myOtherFunction() {
      cout << "Some content in another class." ;
    }
};

// Derived class
class MyChildClass: public MyClass, public MyOtherClass {
};

int main() {
  MyChildClass myObj;
  myObj.myFunction();
  myObj.myOtherFunction();
  return 0;
}

Polymorphism

Polymorphism means “many forms”, and it occurs when we have many classes that are related to each other by inheritance.

Like we specified in the previous chapter; Inheritance lets us inherit attributes and methods from another class. Polymorphism uses those methods to perform different tasks. This allows us to perform a single action in different ways.

For example, think of a base class called Animal that has a method called animalSound(). Derived classes of Animals could be Pigs, Cats, Dogs, Birds – And they also have their own implementation of an animal sound (the pig oinks, and the cat meows, etc.):

Example

// Base class
class Animal {
  public:
    void animalSound() {
      cout << "The animal makes a sound \n";
    }
};

// Derived class
class Pig : public Animal {
  public:
    void animalSound() {
      cout << "The pig says: wee wee \n";
    }
};

// Derived class
class Dog : public Animal {
  public:
    void animalSound() {
      cout << "The dog says: bow wow \n";
    }
};

int main() {
  Animal myAnimal;
  Pig myPig;
  Dog myDog;

  myAnimal.animalSound();
  myPig.animalSound();
  myDog.animalSound();
  return 0;
}

Files

The fstream library allows us to work with files.

To use the fstream library, include both the standard <iostream> AND the <fstream> header file:

Example

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>

There are three classes included in the fstream library, which are used to create, write or read files:

Class	Description
`ofstream`	Creates and writes to files
`ifstream`	Reads from files
`fstream`	A combination of ofstream and ifstream: creates, reads, and writes to files

To create a file, use either the ofstream or fstream class, and specify the name of the file.

To write to the file, use the insertion operator (<<).

Example (create, open & write)

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
  // Create and open a text file
  ofstream MyFile("filename.txt");

  // Write to the file
  MyFile << "Files can be tricky, but it is fun enough!";

  // Close the file
  MyFile.close();
}

To read from a file, use either the ifstream or fstream class, and the name of the file.

Note that we also use a while loop together with the getline() function (which belongs to the ifstream class) to read the file line by line, and to print the content of the file:

Example (read)

// Create a text string, which is used to output the text file
string myText;

// Read from the text file
ifstream MyReadFile("filename.txt");

// Use a while loop together with the getline() function to read the file line by line
while (getline (MyReadFile, myText)) {
  // Output the text from the file
  cout << myText;
}

// Close the file
MyReadFile.close();

Exceptions – try, throw and catch

When an error occurs, C++ will normally stop and generate an error message. The technical term for this is: C++ will throw an exception (throw an error). Exception handling in C++ consist of three keywords: try, throw and catch:

The try statement allows you to define a block of code to be tested for errors while it is being executed.

The throw keyword throws an exception when a problem is detected, which lets us create a custom error.

The catch statement allows you to define a block of code to be executed, if an error occurs in the try block.

The try and catch keywords come in pairs:

Example 1

try {
  // Block of code to try
  throw exception; // Throw an exception when a problem arise
}
catch () {
  // Block of code to handle errors
}

Example 2

try {
  int age = 15;
  if (age >= 18) {
    cout << "Access granted - you are old enough.";
  } else {
    throw (age);
  }
}
catch (int myNum) {
  cout << "Access denied - You must be at least 18 years old.\n";
  cout << "Age is: " << myNum;
}

Example 3

You can also use the throw keyword to output a reference number, like a custom error number/code for organizing purposes:

try {
  int age = 15;
  if (age >= 18) {
    cout << "Access granted - you are old enough.";
  } else {
    throw 505;
  }
}
catch (int myNum) {
  cout << "Access denied - You must be at least 18 years old.\n";
  cout << "Error number: " << myNum;
}

Example 4

If you do not know the throw type used in the try block, you can use the “three dots” syntax (...) inside the catch block, which will handle any type of exception:

try {
  int age = 15;
  if (age >= 18) {
    cout << "Access granted - you are old enough.";
  } else {
    throw 505;
  }
}
catch (...) {
  cout << "Access denied - You must be at least 18 years old.\n";
}

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Reference

Create a Class

Example

Create an Object

Example

Create Multiple Objects

Example

Class Methods

Inside Example

Outside Example

Method Parameters

Example

Constructors

Example

Constructor Parameters

Example

Example

Access Specifiers

Encapsulation

Inheritance

Example

Multilevel Inheritance

Example

Multiple Inheritance

Example

Polymorphism

Example

Files

Example

Example (create, open & write)

Example (read)

Exceptions – try, throw and catch

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

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