What does operator()() in c++ do? - c++

Question

I'm new to C++11 thread , when reading a tutorial , I see a piece of code like this.
#include <thread>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class background_task
{
public:
void operator()() const
{
cout<<"This is a new thread";
}
};
int main()
{
background_task f;
std::thread my_thread(f);
my_thread.join();
}
The output will be "This is new thread", but i don' really understand what does the function "operator()() const" mean?. In this case, it acts really the same with the constructor, is it right?.
And how can C++ have a syntax like that? I have search about related topic by using the search engine but no found no result.
Thanks in advanced.

Answer 1

void operator()() means an instance of the class with that operator can be called with function call syntax, with no return value, and without any parameters. For example:
background_task b;
b(); // prints "This is a new thread"
The operator() part indicates it is a call operator, the second set of empty parentheses () indicate the operator has no parameters. Here is an example with two parameters and a return value:
struct add
{
int operator()(int a, int b) const { return a + b; }
};
add a;
int c = a(1, 2); // c initialized to 1+2
Note that this syntax pre-dates C++11. You can create callable types (also referred to as functors) in C++03. The connection with C++11 is that the std::thread constructor expects something that can be called without arguments . This could be a plain function
void foo() {}
a static member function
struct foo {
static void bar() {}
};
an instance of a type such as background_task, a suitable lambda expression, a suitable invocation of std::bind, in short, anything that can be called without arguments.

Answer 2

It's just operator overloading and has nothing to do with C++11 or multi-threading. An overloaded operator is just a normal function with a funny name (this may be a bit oversimplified, but it's a good rule of thumb for beginners).
Your class has a function named (). That's all. Technically, you could as well have named the function foo or f or TwoParentheses.
Consider a simpler example:
#include <iostream>
class Example
{
public:
void operator()() { std::cout << "()"; }
void foo() { std::cout << "foo"; }
void TwoParentheses() { std::cout << "TwoParentheses"; }
};
int main()
{
Example e;
e.operator()();
e.foo();
e.TwoParentheses();
}
Now calling an overloaded operator like in this example in main, spelling out the entire .operator() part, is pretty pointless, because an overloaded operator's purpose is to make the calling code simpler. You would instead invoke your function like this:
int main()
{
Example e;
e();
}
As you can see, e(); now looks exactly as if you called a function.
This is why operator() is a special name, after all. In a template, you can handle objects with operator() and function pointers with the same syntax.
Consider this:
#include <iostream>
class Example
{
public:
void operator()() { std::cout << "Example.operator()\n"; }
};
void function() { std::cout << "Function\n"; }
template <class Operation>
void t(Operation o)
{
o(); // operator() or "real" function
}
int main()
{
Example object;
t(object);
t(function);
}
This is the reason why operator() is an important function in C++ generic programming, and is often required.

Answer 3

It has nothing to do with C++11, it's the function call overload operator. That means if you have a class like yours, you can create an instance of it and use as a function:
int main()
{
background_task bt;
bt();
}
The above main function should give the same result as your simple thread example.

Answer 4

it is operator over loading. the user provide an additional use to () operator. Example for static polymorphism. it is fearture of Object orieted program