Good way to create observer design pattern in C++ - c++

Question

I am trying to implement observer design pattern in C++ as below
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
class observer
{
public:
observer() = default;
~observer() = default;
virtual void notify() = 0;
};
class subject
{
vector <observer *> vec;
public:
subject() = default;
~subject() = default;
void _register(observer *obj)
{
vec.push_back(obj);
}
void unregister(observer *obj)
{
int i;
for(i = 0; i < vec.size(); i++)
{
if(vec[i] == obj)
{
cout << "found elem. unregistering" << endl;
vec.erase(vec.begin() + i);
break;
}
}
if(i == vec.size())
{
cout << "elem not found to unregister" << endl;
}
}
void notify()
{
vector <observer *>::iterator it = vec.begin();
while(it != vec.end())
{
(*it)->notify();
it ++;
}
}
};
class obsone : public observer
{
void notify()
{
cout << "in obsone notify" << endl;
}
};
class obstwo : public observer
{
void notify()
{
cout << "in obstwo notify" << endl;
}
};
int main()
{
subject sub;
obsone *one = new obsone();
obstwo *two = new obstwo();
sub._register(one);
sub._register(two);
sub.notify();
sub.unregister(one);
sub.notify();
//delete two;
//sub.notify();
return 0;
}
I am registering the objects with the subject explicitly. Is it the correct way of doing it or do I need to register through observer class only. Are there any problems with the above approach?

Answer 1

Here's an example of doing the callbacks with lambdas and function objects in the callback collection.
The details can vary greatly! So, this code is not “the” way, but just your code rewritten in one specific way, out of a myriad possibilities. But it hopefully shows the general idea in modern C++.
#include <iostream>
#include <functional> // std::function
#include <stdint.h> // uint64_t
#include <unordered_map> // std::unordered_map
#include <utility> // std::move
#include <vector> // std::vector
using namespace std;
namespace my
{
using Callback = function<void()>;
template< class Key, class Value > using Map_ = unordered_map<Key, Value>;
class Subject
{
public:
enum Id: uint64_t {};
private:
Map_<uint64_t, Callback> m_callbacks;
static auto id_value()
-> uint64_t&
{
static uint64_t the_id;
return the_id;
}
public:
auto add_listener( Callback cb )
-> Id
{
const auto id = Id( ++id_value() );
m_callbacks.emplace( id, move( cb ) );
return id;
}
auto remove_listener( const Id id )
-> bool
{
const auto it = m_callbacks.find( id );
if( it == m_callbacks.end() )
{
return false;
}
m_callbacks.erase( it );
return true;
}
void notify_all() const
{
for( const auto& pair : m_callbacks )
{
pair.second();
}
}
};
}
struct Observer_1
{
void notify() { cout << "Observer_1::notify() called." << endl; }
};
struct Observer_2
{
void notify() { cout << "Observer_2::notify() called." << endl; }
};
auto main()
-> int
{
my::Subject subject;
Observer_1 one;
Observer_2 two;
using Id = my::Subject::Id;
const Id listener_id_1 = subject.add_listener( [&]{ one.notify(); } );
const Id listener_id_2 = subject.add_listener( [&]{ two.notify(); } );
cout << "After adding two listeners:" << endl;
subject.notify_all();
cout << endl;
subject.remove_listener( listener_id_1 )
and (cout << "Removed listener 1." << endl)
or (cout << "Did not find registration of listener 1." << endl);
cout << endl;
cout << "After removing or attempting to remove listener 1:" << endl;
subject.notify_all();
}