why does c++ generate a constructor in the following case? - c++

I have a class A
struct A{
A(){}
A(int x): d(x) {}
A(const A& a): d(a.d) {
std::cout << "copy construction" << std::endl;
}
A(A&& a): d(a.d){
std::cout << "move construction" << std::endl;
}
A& operator=(const A& a){
std::cout << "copy assignment" << std::endl;
d = a.d;
return *this;
}
A& operator=(A&& a){
std::cout << "move assignment" << std::endl;
d = a.d;
return *this;
}
int d;
};
and a function func
A func(){
return A(3);
}
if I do this
A x;
x = func();
the output is "move assignment" as expected
but if I construct A like this
A x = func();
then nothing is printed as if c++ generates its own move constructor and refuses to use the defined one.
I'm using visual studio 14
I'd really like to understand this.
Thank you for explanations.

The constructor call is elided.
With gcc, you can disable it with -fno-elide-constructors.
msvc doesn't have equivalent option.

Related

Destructors not called?

I am trying to trace this program however for some reason it displays
Process finished with exit code 4.
and end without calling the destructors? what could be the cause?
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class A {
public:
A() { cout << "A ctor" << endl; }
A(const A& a) { cout << "A copy ctor" << endl; }
virtual ~A() { cout << "A dtor" << endl; }
virtual void foo() { cout << "A foo()" << endl; }
virtual A& operator=(const A& rhs) { cout << "A op=" << endl; }
};
class B : public A {
public:
B() { cout << "B ctor" << endl; }
virtual ~B() { cout << "B dtor" << endl; }
virtual void foo() { cout << "B foo()" << endl; }
protected:
A mInstanceOfA; // don't forget about me!
};
A foo(A& input)
{
input.foo();
return input;
}
int main()
{
B myB;
B myOtherB;
A myA;
myOtherB = myB;
myA = foo(myOtherB);
}
Your program exhibits undefined behavior, by way of reaching the closing brace of a non-void function (here, operator=) without encountering return statement.
For me (with gcc 8.3.0) it works well. But I get a warning:
test.cpp: In member function ‘virtual A& A::operator=(const A&)’:
test.cpp:10:63: warning: no return statement in function returning non-void [-Wreturn-type]
virtual A& operator=(const A& rhs) { cout << "A op=" << endl; }
And it prints out:
A ctor
A ctor
B ctor
A ctor
A ctor
B ctor
A ctor
A op=
A op=
B foo()
A copy ctor
A op=
A dtor
A dtor
B dtor
A dtor
A dtor
B dtor
A dtor
A dtor
Maybe you should try to solve the warning.

Copy elision seems to occur even if compiling with -fno-elide-constructors

#include <iostream>
class A {
public:
A() { std::cout << "Constructor" << std::endl; }
A(const A& a) { std::cout << "Copy Constructor" << std::endl; }
A& operator=(const A& a) { std::cout << "Copy = operator" << std::endl; }
A(A&& a) { std::cout << "Move Constructor" << std::endl; }
A& operator=(A&& a) { std::cout << "Move = operator" << std::endl; }
~A() { std::cout << "Destructor" << std::endl; }
};
void f(A&& a) { std::cout << "function" << std::endl; }
int main() {
f(A());
return 0;
}
The output of the following program is:
Constructor
function
Destructor
Why is the move-constructor not called here? It seems like copy elision occurs even if I compile with the flag -fno-elide-constructors: g++ test.cpp -fno-elide-constructors -std=c++11
Short answer: You are not move-constructing anything.
You are just creating a temporary Aobject and then passing a reference to it. If you want to see move construction, you could e.g. change the signature of f to
void f(A a)

using std::move to prevent copying

I have the following code:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
struct A
{
std::vector<int> x;
A()
{
std::cout << "A()" << std::endl;
}
A(const A&)
{
std::cout << "A(const A&)" << std::endl;
}
~A()
{
std::cout << "~A()" << std::endl;
}
};
struct B : public A
{
std::vector<int> y;
B()
{
std::cout << "B()" << std::endl;
}
B(const A&a)
{
std::cout << "B(const A&)" << std::endl;
x = std::move(a.x);
y.resize(x.size());
}
B(const A&&a)
{
std::cout << "B(const A&&)" << std::endl;
x = std::move(a.x);
y.resize(x.size());
}
B(const B&)
{
std::cout << "B(const B&)" << std::endl;
}
~B()
{
std::cout << "~B()" << std::endl;
}
};
A ret_a()
{
A a;
a.x.resize(10);
return a;
}
int main()
{
std::cout << "section I" << std::endl << std::endl;
A a = ret_a();
B b(a);
std::cout << "a.x.size=" << a.x.size() << std::endl;
std::cout << std::endl << "section II" << std::endl << std::endl;
B b2(ret_a());
std::cout << "b.x.size=" << b.x.size() << std::endl;
std::cout << std::endl << "section III" << std::endl << std::endl;
return 0;
}
With output (VS2013, Release build)
section I
A()
A()
B(const A&)
a.x.size=10
section II
A()
A()
B(const A&&)
~A()
b.x.size=10
section III
~B()
~A()
~B()
~A()
~A()
Why a.x.size() within "section I" has size 10? I thought that std::move should move all data from a.x to y.x
Why did "section II" call constructor A() twice? I thought that B(const A&&) would prevent excessive copying of A
UPDATE
see fixed code at http://pastebin.com/70Nmt9sT
T&& and const T&& are not the same type. You almost never want a const rvalue reference - you can't steal its resources since you made it const! x = std::move(a.x); in B(const A&a) copies a.x since the return type of std::move(a.x) is const vector<int>&&.
The constructor, B(const A&&) calls the default constructor of A since it is derived from A, and the member initializer list does not make an attempt to construct the base A. This is the second A call.
Why a.x.size() within "section I" has size 10? I thought that std::move should move all data from a.x to y.x
This is because of B(const A&& a). Since a is const within that constructor, you only have const access to its member x, and calling std::move on a vector<T> const results in a vector<T> const&& which cannot bind to vector's move constructor (which takes a vector<T>&& argument). Instead it ends up calling the copy constructor, which leaves the source object unmodified.
Why did "section II" call constructor A() twice? I thought that B(const A&&) would prevent excessive copying of A
The first default construction occurs within the body of ret_a(). The second default construction is that of the A sub-object of B. To avoid the second one move the A instance in the member initializer list.
B(const A&&a)
: A(std::move(a))
{
std::cout << "B(const A&&)" << std::endl;
y.resize(x.size());
}
Note that the move doesn't actually result in moving the contents of a due to the same reason as explained above. Moreover, even modifying the signature to B(A&& a) would not result in the contents of a being moved because the user provided copy constructor and destructor definitions prevent implicit generation of a move constructor for A, and it'll be copied instead.

Returning pointer by value does not move the object

I have compiled this code with vs2011. It prints first constructor then copy constructor.
But if I change the function to return a instead of ap, it will move the object. Is this a bug or why does it behave like this? Is *ap not a rvalue?
struct A
{
A() { cout << "constructor" << endl;}
A(const A&) { cout << "copy constructor " << endl;}
void operator=(const A&) { cout << "assignment operator" << endl; }
A( A&&) { cout << "move copy constructor" << endl;}
void operator=(A&&) { cout << "move assignment operator" << endl;}
};
A func() { A a; A *ap = &a; return *ap; }
int main()
{
A a = func();
return 0;
}
*ap is an lvalue (§ 5.3.1.1, n3290) which is in general not safe for the move to happen automatically. The local variable return a; is a different case. There's no requirement for the compiler to prove that in this specific instance it would be safe. This is another good reason for not using pointers in cases where you don't really want pointer semantics.
Changing it to:
return std::move(*ap);
will cause it to be explicitly moved however.

Automatic generation of the move constructor

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
struct A
{
A() {}
A(const A &a) {
cout << "copy constructor" << endl;
}
A& operator=(const A &a) {
cout << "assigment operator" << endl;
}
A(A &&a) {
cout << "move" << endl;
}
A& operator=(A &&a) {
cout << "move" << endl;
}
};
struct B {
A a;
};
B func() {
B b;
return b;
}
int main() {
B b = func();
}
This prints "copy constructor".
For class B the move constructor and the move assignment operator should be automatic generated correct? But why is it using the copy constructor of class A and not the move constructor?
For me it doesn't print anything at all because the copy/move has been elided. However if I thwart RVO with something like:
extern bool choice;
B func() {
B b1, b2;
if (choice)
return b1;
return b2;
}
Then it prints:
move
It may be that your compiler does not yet implement the automatic generation of the move members.