When we define our own classes in C++, the compiler comes up with all sorts of 'default' functionality for us. In the following snippet of code, for example, we define a class, instantiate some members, and perform a typical operation:
class BasicClass
{
int m_myInt;
BasicClass(int someInt = 0) : m_myInt(someInt) {}
void saySomething() { std::cout << "My integer is " << m_myInt << std::endl; }
};
int main()
{
BasicClass x;
x = BasicClass(5);
BasicClass y = x;
y.saySomething();
return 1;
}Although this seems pretty straightforward, there's actually a lot going on here. In the first line of main(), we create a BasicClass object x with m_myInt value 0. In the second line we create a temporary object via BasicClass(5) and then copy all the data from this temporary object to x. This is done behind the scenes, and is an example of a 'shallow copy'. A shallow copy is achieved by copying exactly the values contained in the fields of one object into the corresponding fields of another object. Next (and quite invisibly to us!), our temporary object is destroyed before moving on.
In the third line of main(), we create a new BasicClass object y and initialize its values to those of x. This is similar but not exactly the same as what happened when we created x: Here, we did not (read: the compiler did not) first create y with a temporary m_myInt value of 0. Rather, we (the compiler) created y by directly copying the fields of x into y (this is another shallow copy). The final line does exactly what one would think: it prints the line "My integer is 5" to the console.
We're still not done! Once we leave main(), x and y go out of scope, so they get automatically destroyed.
In total, there were three compiler-generated functions at work here. We only ever defined a constructor for our class --- we never told it how to copy the contents of one object into another, or how to initialize an object using another object. We also never told the compiler how to destroy our objects. This is actually fine. There's no danger in using these compiler-generated functions for this class.
So, then, for what sorts of classes could this cause problems?
Consider a class with a member variable which is a pointer to some other object, or a class which dynamically allocates memory. For example,
class ShallowBad
{
int * m_myIntPtr;
ShallowBad(int someInt = 0)
{
m_myIntPtr = new int;
*m_myIntPtr = someInt;
}
void saySomething() { std::cout << "My pointer location is " << m_myIntPtr
<< " and the integer it points at is " << *m_myIntPtr << std::endl; }
};
int main()
{
ShallowBad x;
x = ShallowBad(5);
ShallowBad y = x;
x.saySomething();
y.saySomething();
*y.m_myIntPtr = 7;
x.saySomething();
y.saySomething();
return 1;
}When we create y we're again performing a shallow copy, so each field of x is copied over to y exactly. Thus y actually has a copy of the integer pointer contained in x, and consequently any changes to *x.m_myIntPtr will also affect *y.m_myIntPtr. If we run the example above, 4 lines will be output to the console. On my machine they were:
My pointer location is 00A40568 and the integer it points at is 5
My pointer location is 00A40568 and the integer it points at is 5
My pointer location is 00A40568 and the integer it points at is 7
My pointer location is 00A40568 and the integer it points at is 7
(The pointer location will likely be different each time you run this). So both objects x and y share the variable value *m_myIntPtr and this will be the case as long as both objects exist. We can not change the values of *x.m_myIntPtr and *y.m_myIntPtr independently of each other. This might sometimes be a desirable thing - but let's assume that this is not the functionality we were hoping for, and that we want to be able to change the integer y points to without affecting the one x points to. To pull this off, we'll need to replace the compiler's default copy constructor and copy assignment operators to make deep copies. The following code accomplishes this:
class BetterCopies
{
int * m_myIntPtr;
BetterCopies(int someInt = 0) // Constructor
{
m_myIntPtr = new int;
*m_myIntPtr = someInt;
std::cout << "Using the constructor to create an object... "
<< "The new object's pointer location is " << m_myIntPtr
<< " and the value it points to is " << *m_myIntPtr << "." << std::endl;
}
BetterCopies(const BetterCopies& original) // Copy Constructor
{
m_myIntPtr = new int;
*m_myIntPtr = *original.m_myIntPtr;
std::cout << "Using the copy constructor to create an object... "
<< "The new object's pointer location is " << m_myIntPtr
<< " and the value it points at is " << *m_myIntPtr << "." << std::endl;
std::cout << "The original object had location " << original.m_myIntPtr
<< " and value " << *original.m_myIntPtr << "." << std::endl;
}
BetterCopies& operator=(const BetterCopies& original) // Copy Assignment
{
if (this != &original)
{
*m_myIntPtr = *original.m_myIntPtr;
std::cout << "Using the copy assignment operator to assign values to an object... "
<< "The new object's pointer location is " << m_myIntPtr
<< " and the value it points at is " << *m_myIntPtr << "." << std::endl;
std::cout << "The original object had location " << original.m_myIntPtr
<< " and value " << *original.m_myIntPtr << "." << std::endl;
}
return *this;
}
~BetterCopies() // Destructor
{
std::cout << "Destroying object with pointer location " << m_myIntPtr << std::endl;
delete m_myIntPtr;
m_myIntPtr = nullptr;
}
void saySomething() { std::cout << "My pointer location is " << m_myIntPtr << " and the integer it points at is " << *m_myIntPtr << std::endl; }
};
int main()
{
BetterCopies x;
x = BetterCopies(5);
BetterCopies y = x;
x.saySomething();
y.saySomething();
*y.m_myIntPtr = 7;
x.saySomething();
y.saySomething();
return 1;
}On my machine this program produced the following console output:
Using the constructor to create an object... The new object's pointer location is 0146A3F0 and the value it points to is 0.
Using the constructor to create an object... The new object's pointer location is 01465A68 and the value it points to is 5.
Using the copy assignment operator to assign values to an object... The new object's pointer location is 0146A3F0 and the value it points at is 5. The original object had location 01465A68 and value 5.
Destroying object with pointer location 01465A68
Using the copy constructor to create an object... The new object's pointer location is 01465A68 and the value it points at is 5. The original object had location 0146A3F0 and value 5.
My pointer location is 0146A3F0 and the integer it points at is 5
My pointer location is 01465A68 and the integer it points at is 5
My pointer location is 0146A3F0 and the integer it points at is 5
My pointer location is 01465A68 and the integer it points at is 7
Destroying object with pointer location 01465A68
Destroying object with pointer location 0146A3F0
We see that the first line BetterCopies x; creates an object with the default constructor. The second line x = BetterCopies(5) first creates an object via BetterCopies(5) and then uses the copy assignment operator to copy this new object's fields to x. At the end of this line, the temporary object we just created is destroyed via the destructor.
The next line BetterCopies y = x uses the copy constructor to create y and initialize its values to be (deep) copies of x's values. The rest of the program is self-explanatory, and of course at the end of main() we destroy x and y via the destructor.
For quick reference, the syntax for these functions is:
class MyClass
{
MyClass(some params) { ..... } // Constructor
MyClass& operator=(const MyClass& someObject) { ..... } // Copy assignment
MyClass(const MyClass& someObject) { ..... } // Copy constructor
~MyClass() { ..... } // Destructor
}Quick note: the const is necessary for the copy assignment operator.
The Rule of Three states that if a class has a custom copy constructor, copy assignment operator, or custom destructor, then it should have all three. This is justified by the fact that if any of these functions is required, then this probably means that the class involves pointers and/or dynamically allocated memory, and therefore needs its own deep copy/assignment to avoid the problem described above and its own destructor to prevent memory leaks.
Consider the code:
class SomeClass
{
public:
int * m_myIntArray;
SomeClass(int x = 0)
{
m_myIntArray = new int[1000];
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
m_myIntArray[i] = i + x;
std::cout << "Constructing object with array located at " << m_myIntArray << "." << std::endl;
}
SomeClass& operator=(const SomeClass& original)
{
if (this != &original)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
m_myIntArray[i] = original.m_myIntArray[i];
std::cout << "Copy-assigning object with array located at " << m_myIntArray << ". The original object has array with location "
<< original.m_myIntArray << "." << std::endl;
}
return *this;
}
SomeClass(const SomeClass& original)
{
m_myIntArray = new int[1000];
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
m_myIntArray[i] = original.m_myIntArray[i];
std::cout << "Copy-constructing object with array located at " << m_myIntArray << ". The original object has array with location "
<< original.m_myIntArray << "." << std::endl;
}
~SomeClass()
{
std::cout << "Destroying object with array located at " << m_myIntArray << "." << std::endl;
delete[] m_myIntArray;
}
void saySomething()
{
std::cout << "My integer array is located at " << m_myIntArray << " and the first few values stored there are " << m_myIntArray[0] << ", "
<< m_myIntArray[1] << ", " << m_myIntArray[2] << "." << std::endl;
}
};
int main()
{
SomeClass x;
x = SomeClass(5);
SomeClass y = x;
x.saySomething();
y.saySomething();
return 1;
}This code generates the following console output on my machine:
Constructing object with array located at 00FE0D88.
Constructing object with array located at 00FE1D58.
Copy-assigning object with array located at 00FE0D88. The original object has array with location 00FE1D58.
Destroying object with array located at 00FE1D58.
Copy-constructing object with array located at 00FE1D58. The original object has array with location 00FE0D88.
My integer array is located at 00FE0D88 and the first few values stored there are 5, 6, 7.
My integer array is located at 00FE1D58 and the first few values stored there are 5, 6, 7.
Destroying object with array located at 00FE1D58.
Destroying object with array located at 00FE0D88.
No surprises here - this works exactly as we'd expect. The problem here is in the massive number of wasted computations. Indeed, to create an object we need to initialize an array of 1000 integers and perform some computations to populate this array. So, when we step through x = SomeClass(5); in the second line of main(), we (1) create a new (temporary) object via SomeClass(5), which involves assigning 1000 locations in memory to particular values, (2) copying these values one-by-one from our temporary object to x, and (3) destroying the temporary object, i.e. deallocating its member array from memory. It would have been more efficient to (1') create our temporary object via SomeClass(5), (2') update the pointer x.m_myIntArray to point at the array created in the previous step, and (3') deallocate the memory which x.m_myIntArray used to point to. Indeed, we avoid copying 1000 values doing things this way.
We encounter the same problem each time we write a line of code like SomeClass x = someFunctionWhichReturnsSomeClassObj(some params); . That is, x is created, as well as a temporary object to store the return value of the function, and then all the values are copied from our temporary object to x. What we'd like to do instead is build our temporary object and simply transfer its pointer to x; this doesn't work, though, because our temporary object is an rvalue, which will therefore be destroyed once the program has stepped past the expression it appeared in. The solution (introduced in C++ 11) is to create an 'rvalue reference', which extends the lifetime of the rvalue to the scope of the rvalue reference, and allows us to make changes to the rvalue.
There are many excellent sources out there which explain the differences between lvalues, rvalues, lvalue and rvalue references, move semantics, etc, and it actually can get a bit involved. Rather than recreate a full explanation here, I think it will be more instructive to show move semantics in action, and to refer the interested reader to the explanation at https://www.learncpp.com/cpp-tutorial/15-2-rvalue-references/ .
class MyClass
{
public:
int * myPtr;
// Constructor, destructor, copy constructor, and copy assignment operator defined as usual.
MyClass(int x = 0)
{
myPtr = new int;
*myPtr = x;
std::cout << "Using the usual constructor with value " << x << "." << std::endl;
}
~MyClass()
{
delete myPtr;
myPtr = nullptr;
std::cout << "Destroying object..." << std::endl;
}
MyClass(const MyClass& other)
{
myPtr = new int;
*myPtr = *other.myPtr;
std::cout << "Using the copy constructor." << std::endl;
}
MyClass& operator=(const MyClass& other)
{
if (this != &other)
{
*myPtr = *other.myPtr;
std::cout << "Using the copy assignment operator." << std::endl;
}
}
// Move constructor and move assignment operator take rvalue references. Syntax for such a reference is T&&, where T is the class name.
MyClass(MyClass&& other)
{
myPtr = other.myPtr;
other.myPtr = nullptr;
std::cout << "Using the move constructor." << std::endl;
}
MyClass& operator=(MyClass&& other)
{
if (&other == this)
return *this;
delete myPtr; // Delete any resources we're holding onto before transferring ownership from 'other' to 'this'.
myPtr = other.myPtr;
other.myPtr = nullptr;
std::cout << "Using the move assignment operator." << std::endl;
return *this;
}
void describeSelf()
{
std::cout << "My pointer is " << myPtr << " and the value stored there is " << *myPtr << "." << std::endl;
}
};
MyClass createObj(int x)
{
MyClass someObject = myClass(x);
return someObject;
}
int main()
{
MyClass x;
x = createObj(42);
MyClass y(createObj(30));
return 1;
}
The console output for this program looks like:
Using the usual constructor with value 0.
Using the usual constructor with value 42.
Using the move constructor.
Destroying object...
Using the move assignment operator.
Destroying object...
Using the usual constructor with value 30.
Using the move constructor.
Destroying object...
Destroying object...
Destroying object...
The first line calls the default constructor as expected. The second line begins to show the advantage of using move semantics: x = createObj(42) would usually involve a lot of unnecessary copying as described above. First, in the first line of createObj(42), the default constructor is called to create an object with parameter 42, and then the move constructor is used to transfer this temporary object to the return value of the createObj function (so, we've already avoided a potentially expensive copy). Back in the second line of main(), we perform a move assignment operation to transfer the contents of the temporary object to x - without making a copy (!). The line MyClass y(createObj(30)) runs similarly. Of course, our class here contained only a pointer so this did not save us any operations. But if this class contained (say) a large dynamically-allocated array or a long std::vector, the savings would be quite noticable. This savings becomes more profound the more "move"s are used, so that (for example) a sorting algorithm which relies on swapping objects many times can be done enormously quicker with move semantics than with copy semantics.
The compiler will automatically create a move constructor and move assignment operator for a user-defined class only if there are no user-declared destructors, copy constructors, or copy assignment operators. Therefore any user who defines any of these functions and who wants move semantics, say for the reasons outlined above, needs to define them. The author of the article at https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/rule_of_three summarized this well:
Unlike Rule of Three, failing to provide move constructor and move assignment is usually not an error, but a missed optimization opportunity.
Suggestions and corrections are always very welcome!
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