C++ class objects copy constructor and operator= - c++

Question

I'm currently building a library In C++. I have met this problem few days ago and I'm unable to fix it. I have shorten the code so it can be seen easier.
Below is my code:
class String
{
private:
mutable char* v;
mutable int l = 0;
public:
String()
{
l++;
v = new char[1];
*v = '\0';
}
String(const char* value)
{
int length = 0;
while (value[length])
length++;
l = length + 1;
v = new char[l];
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
v[i] = value[i];
v[l - 1] = '\0';
}
String(const String& value)
{
int length = value.len();
l = length + 1;
v = new char[l];
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
v[i] = value[i];
v[l - 1] = '\0';
}
int len() const
{
return l - 1;
}
char* val() const
{
return v;
}
char* operator=(const char* value) const
{
delete[] v;
int length = 0;
while (value[length])
length++;
l = length + 1;
v = new char[l];
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
v[i] = value[i];
v[l - 1] = '\0';
return v;
}
char* operator=(const String& value) const
{
delete[] v;
int length = value.len();
l = length + 1;
v = new char[l];
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
v[i] = value[i];
v[l - 1] = '\0';
return v;
}
char operator[](const int& index) const
{
return v[index];
}
};
class StringArray
{
private:
union ArrayDef
{
public:
mutable String stringV;
mutable int intV;
ArrayDef()
{
}
ArrayDef(const String& value)
: stringV(value)
{
}
ArrayDef(const int& value)
: intV(value)
{
}
ArrayDef(const ArrayDef& value)
{
intV = value.intV;
stringV = value.stringV;
}
String operator=(const String& value) const
{
stringV = value;
return stringV;
}
int operator=(const int& value) const
{
intV = value;
return intV;
}
ArrayDef operator=(const ArrayDef& value)
{
intV = value.intV;
stringV = value.stringV;
return *this;
}
};
mutable ArrayDef* arrdef;
mutable int arrLen = 0;
public:
StringArray()
{
}
void add(const ArrayDef& value) const
{
ArrayDef temp[arrLen + 1];
for (int i = 0; i < arrLen; i++)
temp[i] = arrdef[i];
temp[arrLen] = value;
arrLen++;
delete[] arrdef;
arrdef = new ArrayDef[arrLen];
for (int i = 0; i < arrLen; i++)
arrdef[i] = temp[i];
}
int len() const
{
return arrLen;
}
ArrayDef val(const int& index) const
{
return arrdef[index];
}
};
And my driver code:
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
StringArray arr;
arr.add(String("Hello"));
arr.add(String("World"));
std::cout << "Length of the array: " << arr.len() << std::endl;
int indexOfString = 1;
int indexOfCharacter = 2;
char s = arr.val(indexOfString).stringV[indexOfCharacter];
std::cout << "arr[" << indexOfString << "][" << indexOfCharacter << "]: " << s << std::endl;
}
I have created two class, that is, String and StringArray class.
For String class, I need to always add a null character after the char pointer array for safety issue.
For StringArray class, I uses union because it's actually an array for multiple types.
It can be successfully compiled but it output some random character and it is different every time I run it.
Any answers will be appreciated, and please tell me why and how it don't works. Thank you.
From,
HaiQin.

Answer 1

This code is just a collection of antipatters that makes it difficult to study. What is the reason of making the internal data mutable? Why do you need to play with length and l where sometimes it is the length of the string, sometimes it is the size of array? The operator operator= returns char* which is a bad practice. Using const int& index as a parameter is a strange choice. You allocate arrays multiple times but you have no destructor that frees the memory.
Here your assignment operator returns a value, not reference!
ArrayDef operator=(const ArrayDef& value)
{
intV = value.intV;
stringV = value.stringV;
return *this;
}
Next comes even more dangerous practice:
// Recollect that this is a union
ArrayDef(const ArrayDef& value)
{
intV = value.intV;
stringV = value.stringV;
}
You are assigning both fields of the union at the same time! Did you mean struct?
Try to fix that. Start with changing union to structure.

Answer 2

One of the things that certainly will not work is the ArrayDef copy constructor and operator=(const ArrayDef & value). This is because you may only use the active value in the union, not both at the same time. This is usually solved by using a tagged union. Is there a reason you cannot use the Standard Template Library?
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
int main() {
std::vector<std::string> arr;
arr.push_back(std::string("Hello"));
arr.push_back(std::string("World"));
std::cout << "Length of the array: " << arr.size() << std::endl;
constexpr int indexOfString = 1; // second string - starting from 0!
constexpr int indexOfCharacter = 2; // third character
char s = arr.at(indexOfString).c_str()[indexOfCharacter]; // using interfaces closest to the original
std::cout << "arr[" << indexOfString << "][" << indexOfCharacter << "]: " << s << std::endl;
}