A simple struct is often just a small bundle of related data. When you create one, you usually want its members to start with meaningful values immediately. Aggregate initialization lets you do that in one statement, instead of creating the object first…
Enumerations are great however printing them out are quite tricky. For unscoped enums, they implicitly convert to an int. For scoped enums, the type safety is enforced. Fortunately, there is a solution! This Nibble will demonstrate how to use operator…
Enumerations are used to store a bundle of information. They have numerous applications. This Nibble will demonstrate 2 such applications. 1. Returning status codes Suppose a function validates a password. A weak version might return integers: This technically works, but…
If you recently watched CppCon 2014: Herb Sutter “Back to the Basics! Essentials of Modern C++ Style”, you’ll be enticed to add auto liberally. However, I’m going to be a party pooper. If you use auto heavily, you need to know exactly…
A function and its caller communicate with each other via two mechanisms: parameters and return values. When a function is called, the caller provides arguments, which the function receives via its parameters. Parameters normally send information into a function. Return…
Recap on Return by reference Returning by reference tells the compiler to avoid creating a duplicate of the type we are returning. Rather, we return a reference to the object being returned. In this example, we add const before the…
Everyone is familiar with pass by value and pass by reference. However, C++ has a third way of passing in objects. This is called pass by address. How pass by address is performed. Instead of passing in a lvalue reference,…
A pointer points to a memory address. These gives you two different levers to manipulate pointers: Three things to take away: Operation 1: Change the address of the pointer Assigning a new address to a pointer changes what object it…
An lvalue reference can only bind to a modifiable object. Therefore, the code excerpt below throws a compiler error. The workaround is to simply make the lvalue reference const. Lvalue reference to const By labelling the lvalue reference as const…
An lvalue reference is an alias to an existing object. It does not create a new object. It gives another name to an object that already exists. This makes references useful for function parameters, return values, and APIs that need…