C++ FAQ / Section 4 / FAQ 4.45

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Revised Jul 4, 2012

[4.45] What updates were made for the 10/99 release?

8 New FAQs:

• [2.7] Where can I find the C++ FAQ translated into French?
  (created with much thanks to translators S. Bailliez, L. Bize, F. Clerc, P. Elie and J. Lecomte)
• [4.45] What updates were made for the 10/99 release?
  (created)
• [13.11] Why shouldn't my Matrix class's interface look like an array-of-array?
  (created)
• [37.1] What is the "STL"?
  (created)
• [39.11] How can I create two classes that both know about each other?
  (created thanks to Steve Horne)
• [39.12] What special considerations are needed when forward declarations are used with member objects?
  (created thanks to Steve Horne)
• [39.13] What special considerations are needed when forward declarations are used with inline functions?
  (created thanks to Steve Horne)
• [39.14] Why can't I put a forward-declared class in a std::vector<>?
  (created thanks to Steve Horne)

38 Changed FAQs:

• [6.12] Is C++ standardized? Updated!
  (changed "International Standards Organization" to "International Organization for Standardization" thanks to (NOSPAM)savvysoft2(AT)aol(DOT)com)
• [7.1] What is a class?
  (cleaned up wording so no one thinks int is a class thanks to Ron Natalie)
• [8.1] What is a reference?
  (added return type to main())
• [8.2] What happens if you assign to a reference?
  (inserted "state of the" to avoid ambiguity thanks to Donna)
• [8.3] What happens if you return a reference?
  (added return type to main())
• [10.5] Which constructor gets called when I create an array of Fred objects?
  (added return type to main(), plus added stuff about "explicit initialization of arrays" thanks to Keller Beyer)
• [10.8] What is the "Named Constructor Idiom"?
  (added return type to main())
• [12.1] What is "self assignment"?
  (added return type to main())
• [13.4] But operator overloading makes my class look ugly; isn't it supposed to make my code clearer?
  (added return type to main())
• [13.5] What operators can/cannot be overloaded?
  (added return type to main())
• [13.6] Can I overload operator== so it lets me compare two char[] using a string comparison?
  (replaced "class type" with "user-defined type" in first paragraph thanks to Daryle Walker)
• [13.10] How do I create a subscript operator for a Matrix class?
  (added return type to main(); added parameters to the instantiation of m in main() thanks to Boris Pulatov)
• [13.13] Should I design my classes from the outside (interfaces first) or from the inside (data first)?
  (added an admonition to not "roll your own" container classes)
• [15.2] Why does my program go into an infinite loop when someone enters an invalid input character?
  (added return type to main())
• [15.5] Why does my input seem to process past the end of file?
  (strengthened the message with another example)
• [15.8] How can I provide printing for my class Fred?
  (added return type to main())
• [15.10] How can I provide input for my class Fred?
  (added return type to main())
• [15.16] Why can't I open a file in a different directory such as "..\test.dat"?
  (added return type to main())
• [16.7] How can I convince my (older) compiler to automatically check new to see if it returns NULL?
  (added return type to main())
• [16.21] How can I force objects of my class to always be created via new rather than as locals or global/static objects?
  (added return type to main())
• [18.15] Why does the compiler allow me to change an int after I've pointed at it with a int const*?
  (added return type to main())
• [18.16] Does "Fred const* p" mean that *p can't change?
  (added return type to main())
• [21.2] Converting Derived* → Base* works OK; why doesn't Derived** → Base** work?
  (added return type to main(); added methods openGasCap() and fireNuclearMissle() — makes the example more exciting)
• [21.4] Is an array of Derived a kind-of array of Base?
  (added return type to main())
• [24.4] Should I pointer-cast from a private derived class to its base class?
  (changed PrivateDer to PrivatelyDer in last paragraph)
• [24.6] What are the access rules with private and protected inheritance?
  (rewritten with the using syntax; thanks to Stephen Vance)
• [29.16] Why is floating point so inaccurate? Why doesn't this print 0.43?
  (added return type to main())
• [32.2] How can I include a standard C header file in my C++ code?
  (added return type to main())
• [32.3] How can I include a non-system C header file in my C++ code?
  (added return type to main())
• [32.4] How can I modify my own C header files so it's easier to #include them in C++ code?
  (added return type to main())
• [32.5] How can I call a non-system C function f(int,char,float) from my C++ code?
  (added return type to main())
• [33.2] How do I pass a pointer-to-member-function to a signal handler, X event callback, system call that starts a thread/task, etc?
  (added return type to main())
• [34.2] How can I make a perl-like associative array in C++?
  (added return type to main())
• [35.2] What's the syntax / semantics for a "class template"?
  (added return type to main())
• [35.3] What's the syntax / semantics for a "function template"?
  (added return type to main())
• [38.1] Where can I download a free C++ compiler?
  (fixed the URL)
• [38.5] Where can I get information about the C++ compiler from {Borland, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, etc.}?
  (added Edison Design Group C++ thanks to Matt Page)
• [40.3] Are there any pretty-printers that reformat C++ source code?
  (added Artistic Style thanks to Philipp Berndt, fixed the URL for C++2LaTeX thanks to Vinay Kumar Nallamothu, fixed the URL for C-Clearly thanks to Bill Robertson; fixed the plaintext version (the "grind" definition didn't show up there) thanks to Nimrod Zimerman)