I've got a situation which can be summarized in the following:
class Test
{
Test();
int MySet[10];
};
is it possible to initialize MySet
in an initializer list?
Like this kind of initializer list:
Test::Test() : MySet({1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}) {}
Is there any way to initialize a constant-sized member array in a class's initalizer list?
While not available in C++03, C++11 introduces extended initializer lists. You can indeed do it if using a compiler compliant with the C++11 standard.
struct Test {
Test() : set { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { };
int set[10];
};
The above code compiles fine using g++ -std=c++0x -c test.cc
.
As pointed out below me by a helpful user in the comments, this code does not compile using Microsoft's VC++ compiler, cl. Perhaps someone can tell me if the equivalent using std::array
will?
#include <array>
struct Test {
Test() : set { { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } } { };
std::array<int, 10> set;
};
This also compiles fine using g++ -std=c++0x -c test.cc
.
Unfortunately, in C++03, you cannot initialize arrays in initializer lists. You can in C++11 though if your compiler is newer :)
see: How do I initialize a member array with an initializer_list?
"I understand that Set is just a pointer to the static array of 10 integers"
No, that's wrong: it's an array, not a pointer.
You can still initialize it in the constructor's initializer list.
For a compiler that doesn't support C++11 curly braces initialization (Visual C++ version 11 and earlier comes to mind) you'll have to jump through some hoops though, as shown below:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#define CPP11
#if defined( _MSC_VER )
# if (_MSC_VER <= 1700)
# undef CPP11
# endif
#endif
#ifdef CPP11
class Cpp11
{
private:
int set_[10];
public:
Cpp11()
: set_{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 }
{}
int foo() const { return set_[3]; }
};
#endif
class Cpp03
{
private:
struct IntArray10 { int values[10]; };
IntArray10 set_;
static IntArray10 const& oneToTen()
{
static IntArray10 const values =
{ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10} };
return values;
}
public:
Cpp03()
: set_( oneToTen() )
{}
int foo() const { return set_.values[3]; }
};
int main()
{}
Instead of using raw arrays, though, use std::vector
and C+++11 std::array
, both of which are supported even by Visual C++ 11.