Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance and Overloading

Lecture 28

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 1

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance
• Objects are often defined in terms of hierarchical
classes with a base class and one or more levels
of classes that inherit from the classes that are
above it in the hierarchy.
• For instance, graphics objects might be defined
as follows:

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 2

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance (continued)

• This hierarchy could, of course, be continued for more

levels.

• Each level inherits the attributes of the above level. Shape

is the base class. 2-D and 3-D are derived from Shape and
Circle, Square, and Triangle are derived from 2-D. Similarly,
Sphere, Cube, and Tetrahedron are derived from 3-D.

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 3

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance (continued)
class A : base class access specifier B
{
member access specifier(s):
...
member data and member function(s);
...
}

Valid access specifiers include public, private, and

protected
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 4
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Public Inheritance
class A : public B
{ // Class A now inherits the members of Class B
// with no change in the “access specifier” for
} // the inherited members

public base class (B) derived class (A)

public members public
protected members protected
private members inherited but not
accessible
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 5
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Protected Inheritance
class A : protected B
{ // Class A now inherits the members of Class B
// with public members “promoted” to protected
} // but no other changes to the inherited members

protected base class (B) derived class (A)

public members protected
protected members protected
private members inherited but not
accessible
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 6
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Private Inheritance
class A : private B
{ // Class A now inherits the members of Class B
// with public and protected members
} // “promoted” to private

private base class (B) derived class (A)

public members private
protected members private
private members inherited but not
accessible
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 7
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance (continued)
class Shape
{
public:
int GetColor ( ) ;
protected: // so derived classes can access it
int color;
};
class Two_D : public Shape
{
// put members specific to 2D shapes here
};
class Three_D : public Shape
{
// put members specific to 3D shapes here
};
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 8
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance (continued)
class Square : public Two_D
{
public:
float getArea ( ) ;
protected:
float edge_length;
};
class Cube : public Three_D
{
public:
float getVolume ( ) ;
protected:
float edge_length;
};

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 9

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Inheritance (continued)
int main ( )
{
Square mySquare;
Cube myCube;

mySquare.getColor ( ); // Square inherits getColor()

mySquare.getArea ( );
myCube.getColor ( ); // Cube inherits getColor()
myCube.getVolume ( );
}
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 10
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Overloading
• C++ supports writing more than one function with
the same name but different argument lists. This
could include:
– different data types
– different number of arguments

• The advantage is that the same apparent function

can be called to perform similar but different
tasks. The following will show an example of
this.

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 11

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Overloading
void swap (int *a, int *b) ;
void swap (float *c, float *d) ;
void swap (char *p, char *q) ;
int main ( )
{
int a = 4, b = 6 ;
float c = 16.7, d = -7.89 ;
char p = 'M' , q = 'n' ;
swap (&a, &b) ;
swap (&c, &d) ;
swap (&p, &q) ;
}

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 12

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Overloading

void swap (int *a, int *b)

{ int temp; temp = *a; *a = *b; *b = temp; }

void swap (float *c, float *d)

{ float temp; temp = *c; *c = *d; *d = temp; }

void swap (char *p, char *q)

{ char temp; temp = *p; *p = *q; *q = temp; }

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 13

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Templates

• We have discussed overloaded functions as a way

to perform similar operations on data of different
types. The swap functions were an example.

• We wrote three functions with the same name but

different data types to perform the swap
operations. Then we could call swap (&a, &b), for
example, and C++ would select which function to
use by matching the data type of a and b to one of
the functions.

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 14

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Templates

• Another way to perform this task would be to

create a function template definition.

• With a function template defined, when we call

swap (&a, &b), C++ will generate the object code
functions for us. The program on the following
slides is an example.

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 15

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Templates

template <typename T> void swap (T *a, T *b)

{ T is a “dummy” type that will be
T temp; filled in by the compiler as
temp = *a; needed
*a = *b;
a and b are of “type” T
*b = temp;
temp is of “type” T
}
swap is a function template,
NOT a function
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 16
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Function Templates
int main ( )
{
int a = 5, b = 6;
float c = 7.6, d = 9.8;
char e = 'M', f = 'Z';
swap (&a, &b); // compiler puts int in for T
swap (&c, &d); // compiler puts float in for T
swap (&e, &f); // compiler puts char in for T
cout << "a=" << a << " and b=" << b << endl;
cout << "c=" << c << " and d=" << d << endl;
cout << "e=" << e << " and f=” << f << endl;
}
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 17
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Operator Overloading
• C++ already has a number of types (e.g., int, float,
char, etc.) that each have a number of built in
operators. For example, a float can be added to
another float and stored in yet another float with
use of the + and = operators:
floatC = floatA + floatB;
• In this statement, floatB is passed to floatA by
way of the + operator. The + operator from floatA
then generates another float that is passed to
floatC via the = operator. That new float is then
stored in floatC by some method outlined in the
= function.
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 18
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Operator Overloading (continued)

• Operator overloading means that the operators:

– Have multiple definitions that are

distinguished by the types of their parameters,
and

– When the operator is used, the C++ compiler

uses the types of the operands to determine
which definition should be used.

Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 19

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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Operator Overloading (continued)

• A programmer has the ability to re-define or change how
the operators (+, -, *, /, =, <<, >>, etc.) work on their own
classes.

• Overloading operators usually consists of defining a class

member function called operator+ (where + is any
operator). Note that operator is a reserved word in C++. If
anything usually follows that operator, it is passed to the
function. That function acts exactly like any other member
function; it has the same scope as other member
functions and can return a value just like any other
member function.
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 20
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 Engineering H192 - Computer Programming

Operator Overloading (continued)

Steps for defining an overloaded operator:

1. Name the operator being overloaded.

 
2. Specify the (new) types of parameters (operands)
the operator is to receive.
 
3. Specify the type of value returned by the
operator.
 
4. Specify what action the operator is to perform.
Winter Quarter The Ohio State University Lect 28 P. 21
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