C++ error: no matching constructor for initialization of - c++

Question

Im practicing memberwise assignment in C++, where you can set the values of one object to another object of the same class. The idea of the program is to initialize a rectangle object with some values and create another rectangle object but assign the value of the first into the second.
Its giving me an error, which is posted below, and I can't figure out what it is and its driving me nuts lol
This is my Rectangle.h
#ifndef RECTANGLE_H
#define RECTANGLE_H
class Rectangle {
private:
double length;
double width;
public:
Rectangle(double, double);
double getLength() const;
double getWidth() const;
};
Rectangle::Rectangle(double l, double w) {
length = l;
width = w;
}
double Rectangle::getWidth() const { return width; }
double Rectangle::getLength() const { return length; }
#endif
This is my Rectangle.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include "rectangle.h"
using namespace std;
int main()
{
Rectangle box1(10.0, 10.0);
Rectangle box2;
cout << "box1's width and length: " << box1.getWidth() << ", " << box1.getLength() << endl;
cout << "box2's width and length: " << box2.getWidth() << ", " << box2.getLength() << endl;
box2 = box1;
cout << "box1's width and length: " << box1.getWidth() << ", " << box1.getLength() << endl;
cout << "box2's width and length: " << box2.getWidth() << ", " << box2.getLength() << endl;
return 0;
}
This is the error when I compile.
skipper~/Desktop/Programming/Memberwise: g++ rectangle.cpp
rectangle.cpp:7:12: error: no matching constructor for initialization of
'Rectangle'
Rectangle box1(10.0, 10.0);
^ ~~~~~~~~~~
./rectangle.h:4:7: note: candidate constructor (the implicit copy constructor)
not viable: requires 1 argument, but 2 were provided
class Rectangle {
^
./rectangle.h:4:7: note: candidate constructor
(the implicit default constructor) not viable: requires 0 arguments, but 2
were provided
1 error generated.
EDIT: This is how I was able to make it work. I moved everything into rectangle.cpp and gave the constructor default arguments.
EDITED rectangle.cpp
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Rectangle {
private:
double length;
double width;
public:
//Rectangle();
Rectangle(double = 0.0, double = 0.0);
double getLength() const;
double getWidth() const;
};
int main()
{
Rectangle box1(10.0, 10.0);
Rectangle box2;
cout << "box1's width and length: " << box1.getWidth() << ", " << box1.getLength() << endl;
cout << "box2's width and length: " << box2.getWidth() << ", " << box2.getLength() << endl;
box2 = box1;
cout << "box1's width and length: " << box1.getWidth() << ", " << box1.getLength() << endl;
cout << "box2's width and length: " << box2.getWidth() << ", " << box2.getLength() << endl;
return 0;
}
Rectangle::Rectangle(double l, double w) {
length = l;
width = w;
}
double Rectangle::getWidth() const { return width; }
double Rectangle::getLength() const { return length; }
The only changes I made were giving default arguments to my user-defined constructor. However, it wasn't able to work when the changes were in rectangle.h. However, when I moved the class and member function definitions to rectangle.cpp it was able to work. So, I got the program to work but I didn't address the real issue, which is when the class and member function definitions are in rectangle.h, it won't compile.
If anyone has faced this problem and has found a solution to this, please let me know how you did it. Thanks :)

Answer 1

In the line
Rectangle box2; // no default constructor, error
you are trying to invoke the default constructor of Rectangle. The compiler does not generate such a default constructor anymore, because your Rectangle has a user defined constructor that takes 2 parameters. Therefore, you need to specify the parameters, like
Rectangle box2(0,10);
The error I get when compiling your code is:
Rectangle.cpp:8:15: error: no matching function for call to 'Rectangle::Rectangle()'
Rectangle box2;
A solution is to create a default constructor for Rectangle, since it is not automatically generated anymore due to your user defined one:
Rectangle(); // in Rectangle.h
Rectangle::Rectangle(){} // in Rectangle.cpp (or Rectangle::Rectangle() = default; in C++11)
Another solution (and the preferable one, since it doesn't leave the data un-initialized) is to assign default arguments to your existing constructor.
Rectangle::Rectangle(double l = 0, double w = 0); // only in Rectangle.h
In this way, you make your class Default-Constructible.

Answer 2

A compiler generated default constructor is only generated if you have no defined constructors. You define a constructor, so if you want a default constructor you have to provide it yourself. Probably the easiest (arguably) is to provide it by using default arguments in your two argument constructor:
Rectangle(double l=0, double w=0)
Also you should use the inline keyword as shown below or you may find you get linker errors:
inline Rectangle::Rectangle(double l, double w) {
length = l;
width = w;
}
inline double Rectangle::getWidth() const { return width; }
inline double Rectangle::getLength() const { return length; }