C++ – Declare but not define inner struct/class – legal C++ or not

cdefinitionforward-declarationinner-classes

Is following code legal C++ or not?

class Foo
{
  class Bar;

  void HaveADrink(Bar &bar);
  void PayForDrinks(Bar &bar);

  public:
  void VisitABar(int drinks);
};

class Foo::Bar
{
  public:
  int countDrinks;
};

void Foo::HaveADrink(Bar &bar)
{
  bar.countDrinks++;
}
void Foo::PayForDrinks(Bar &bar)
{
  bar.countDrinks = 0;
}
void Foo::VisitABar(int drinks)
{
  Bar bar;
  for (int i=0; i<drinks; i++) HaveADrink(bar);
  PayForDrinks(bar);
}

Both Visual C++ and GCC accepts it, however the code seems somewhat strange to me and I would hate to have it refused by some future compiler.

Still, the pattern seems useful to me to reduce compile time dependencies – I often use it to declare structs which are used to pass some "context" (a bunch of variables) which are shared between a few functions which all reside in the same cpp file, and this way I do not have to introduce the "context" definition into the public interface.

Best Answer

legal, and indeed usefull to hide implementation details to the outside world.

Related Solutions

C++ – When should you use a class vs a struct in C++

The differences between a class and a struct in C++ is:

struct members and base classes/structs are public by default.
class members and base classes/struts are private by default.

Both classes and structs can have a mixture of public, protected and private members, can use inheritance and can have member functions.

I would recommend you:

use struct for plain-old-data structures without any class-like features;
use class when you make use of features such as private or protected members, non-default constructors and operators, etc.

Java inner class and static nested class

From the Java Tutorial:

Nested classes are divided into two categories: static and non-static. Nested classes that are declared static are simply called static nested classes. Non-static nested classes are called inner classes.

Static nested classes are accessed using the enclosing class name:

OuterClass.StaticNestedClass

For example, to create an object for the static nested class, use this syntax:

OuterClass.StaticNestedClass nestedObject = new OuterClass.StaticNestedClass();

Objects that are instances of an inner class exist within an instance of the outer class. Consider the following classes:

class OuterClass {
    ...
    class InnerClass {
        ...
    }
}

An instance of InnerClass can exist only within an instance of OuterClass and has direct access to the methods and fields of its enclosing instance.

To instantiate an inner class, you must first instantiate the outer class. Then, create the inner object within the outer object with this syntax:

OuterClass outerObject = new OuterClass()
OuterClass.InnerClass innerObject = outerObject.new InnerClass();

see: Java Tutorial - Nested Classes

For completeness note that there is also such a thing as an inner class without an enclosing instance:

class A {
  int t() { return 1; }
  static A a =  new A() { int t() { return 2; } };
}

Here, new A() { ... } is an inner class defined in a static context and does not have an enclosing instance.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C++ – When should you use a class vs a struct in C++

Java inner class and static nested class

Related Topic