1	Introduction to C++ Data Abstraction w/ Classes Topic #2
2	Lecture #1 plus Review Abstract Data Types Introduction to...Object Models Introduction to...Data Abstraction Using Data Abstraction in C++ ...an introduction to the class Members of a Class The class interface, using the class, the class interface versus implementation Classes versus Structures Constructors, Destructors Dynamic Memory and Linked Lists
3	Programming Paradigms The most important aspect of C++ is its ability to support many different programming paradigms procedural abstraction modular abstraction data abstraction object oriented programming (this is discussed later, once we learn about the concept of inheritance)
4	Procedural Abstraction This is where you build a “fence” around program segments, preventing some parts of the program from “seeing” how tasks are being accomplished. Any use of globals causes side effects that may not be predictable, reducing the viability of procedural abstraction
5	Modular Abstraction With modular abstraction, we build a “screen” surrounding the internal structure of our program prohibiting programmers from accessing the data except through specified functions. Many times data structures (e.g., structures) common to a module are placed in a header files along with prototypes (allows external references)
6	Modular Abstraction The corresponding functions that manipulate the data are then placed in an implementation file. Modules (files) can be compiled separately, allowing users access only to the object (.o) files We progress one small step toward OOP by thinking about the actions that need to take place on data...
7	Modular Abstraction We implement modular abstraction by separating out various functions/structures/classes into multiple .c and .h files. .c files contain the implementation of our functions .h files contain the prototypes, class and structure definitions.
8	Modular Abstraction We then include the .h files in modules that need access to the prototypes, structures, or class declarations: #include “myfile.h” (Notice the double quotes!) We then compile programs (on UNIX) by: CC main.c myfile.c (Notice no .h file is listed on the above line)
9	Data Abstraction Data Abstraction is one of the most powerful programming paradigms It allows us to create our own user defined data types (using the class construct) and then define variables (i.e., objects) of those new data types.
10	Data Abstraction With data abstraction we think about what operations can be performed on a particular type of data and not how it does it Here we are one step closer to object oriented programming
11	Data Abstraction Data abstraction is used as a tool to increase the modularity of a program It is used to build walls between a program and its data structures what is a data structure? talk about some examples of data structures We use it to build new abstract data types
12	Data Abstraction An abstract data type (ADT) is a data type that we create consists of data and operations that can be performed on that data Think about a char type it consists of 1 byte of memory and operations such as assignment, input, output, arithmetic operations can be performed on the data
13	Data Abstraction An abstract data type is any type you want to add to the language over and above the fundamental types For example, you might want to add a new type called: list which maintains a list of data the data structure might be an array of structures operations might be to add to, remove, display all, display some items in the list
14	Data Abstraction Once defined, we can create lists without worrying about how the data is stored We “hide” the data structure used for the data within the data type -- so it is transparent to the program using the data type We call the program using this new data type: the client program (or client)
15	Data Abstraction Once we have defined what data and operations make sense for a new data type, we can define them using the class construct in C++ Once you have defined a class, you can create as many instances of that class as you want Each “instance” of the class is considered to be an “object” (variable)
16	Data Abstraction Think of a class as similar to a data type and an object as a variable And, just as we can have zero or more variables of any data type... we can have zero or more objects of a class! Then, we can perform operations on an object in the same way that we can access members of a struct...
17	What is a Class? Remember, we used a structure to group different types of data together under a common name With a class, we can go the next step an actually define a new data type In reality, structures and classes are 100% the same except for the default conditions everything you can do with a class you can do with a structure!
18	What is a Class? First, let’s talk about some terminology Think of a class as the same as a data type Think of an object as the same as a variable An “object” is an instance of a class Just like a “variable” is an instance of a specific data type We can zero or more variables (or objects) in our programs
19	When do we used Classes? I recommend using structures when you want to group different types of data together and, to use a class when we are interested in building a new type of data into the language itself to do this, I always recommend forming that data type such that it behaves in a consistently to how the fundamental data types work
20	But, What is a Data Type? We’ve been working with fundamental data types this term, such as ints, floats, chars... Whenever we define variables of these types, memory is allocated to hold the data a set of operations can now be performed on that data different data types have different sets of operations that make sense (the mod operator doesn’t make sense for floats...)
21	Defining new Data Types... Therefore, when we define a new data type with the class construct we need to specify how much memory should be set aside for each variable (or object) of this type and, we need to specify which operations make sense for this type of data (and then implement them!!) and, what operators makes sense (do be discussed with operator overloading)
22	Defining a Class... Once we have decided on how the new type of data should behave, we are ready to define a class: class data_type_name { public: //operations go here private: //memory is reserved here };
23	For Example, here is a Class Interface class string { public: string(); int copy(char []); int length(); int display(); private: char str[20]; int len; };
24	Then, the Class Implementation string::string() { str[0]=‘\0’; len = 0; } int string::copy(char s []) [ if (strlen(s) < 20) strcpy (str, s); else { for (int i = 0; i< 20; ++i) str[i] = s[i]; str[20]=‘\0’; len = strlen(str); return len; }
25	More of the Class Implementation int string::length() { return len; } int string::display() { cout <<str; return len; }
26	Defining Objects of this Class Notice how similar defining objects of class is to defining variables of any data type: string my_str; vs. int i; Defining an object causes the “constructor” to be invoked; a constructor is the same named function as the class (string) and is used to initialize the memory set aside for this object Think about how much memory is set aside? What initial values should it take on?
27	Using Objects of this Class Think about how you can use those objects my_str.copy(“hi!”); cout << my_str.length(); We are limited to using only those operations that are defined within the public section of the class interface The only “built-in” operation that can be used with objects of a class is the assignment operation, which does a memberwise copy (as we learned with structures)
28	Using Objects of this Class Notice how similar the use of these operations is to the cin.get function..... cin.get(ch); This should be a clue. cin therefore is an object of the istream class. The dot is the member access operator; it allows us to access a particular public member function defined within the istream class. The function get is therefore defined within the public section of the istream class
29	Limitations... But, there are limitations! If our goal is to really be able to use my string objects in a way consistent with the fundamental data types, then I would expect to be able to read strings using the extraction operator and to display strings by directly using the insertion operator and to concatenate strings using +
30	Limitations... With the class as it is defined, none of these things can be done... the only operations that can be performed are those specified within the public section of the class interface, and a memberwise copy with the assignment operator No other operations are known Therefore, to be consistent, we must revise our class to use operator overloading
31	For Example, here is a Class Interface class string { public: string(); int length(); friend ofstream & operator << (ofstream &, const string &); friend ifstream & operator >> (ifstream &, string &); private: char str[20]; int len; };
32	List Example For a list of videos, we might start with a struct defining what a video is: struct video { char title[100]; char category[5]; int quantity; };
33	List Example For a list of videos data type: class list { public: list(); int add (const video &); int remove (char title[]); int display_all(); private: video my_list[CONST_SIZE]; //for now... int num_of_videos; };
34	List Example For a client to create a list object: main() { list home_videos; //has an array of 100 videos list kids_shows; //another 100 videos here... ••• video out_of_site; cin.get(out_of_site.title,100,’\n’); cin.ignore(100,’\n’); ••• home_videos.add(out_of_site); //use operation
35	"Data Hiding" Data Hiding and Member Functions
36	Data Abstraction in C++ Terminology Data Hiding Class Constructors Defining and using functions in classes Where to place the class interface and implementation of the member functions
37	“class” Terminology Class think data type Object instance of a class, e.g., variable Members like structures, the data and functions declared in a class called “data members” and “member functions”
38	“class” Terminology A class could be a list, a string, a counter, a clock, a bank account, etc. discuss a simple counter class on the board An object is as real as a variable, and gets allocated and deallocated just like variables discuss the similarities of: int i; list j;
39	“class” Terminology For the list of videos data type we used class list { <--- the data type!!! public: list(); <--- the constructor int add (const video &); 3 member functions int remove (char title[]); int display_all(); private: video my_list[CONST_SIZE]; data members int num_of_videos; }; <--- notice like structures we need a semicolon
40	“class” Terminology If we examine the previous class, notice that classes are really very similar to structures a class is simply a generalized structure in fact, even though we may not have used structures in this way... Structures and Classes are 100% identical except for their default conditions... by default, all members in a structure are available for use by clients (e.g., main programs); they are public
41	“class” Terminology We have seen the use of structures in a more simple context, as we examined with the video struct. It had three members (data members) called title, category, and quantity. They are “public” by default, so all functions that have objects of type video can directly access members by: video object; object.title object.category object.quantity
42	“class” Terminology This limited use of a structure was appropriate, because it served the purpose of grouping different types of data together as a single unit so, anytime we want to access a particular video -- we get all of the information pertaining to the video all at once
43	Structure Example Remember, anything you can do in a struct you can do in a class. It is up to your personal style how many structures versus classes you use to solve a problem. Benefit: Using structures for simple “groupings” is compatible with C struct video { char title[100]; char category[5]; int quantity; };
44	“class” Terminology To accomplish data hiding and encapsulation we usually turn towards classes What is data hiding? It is the ability to protect data from unauthorized use Notice, with the video structure, any code that has an object of the structure can access or modify the title or other members
45	Data Hiding With data hiding accessing the data is restricted to authorized functions “clients” (e.g., main program) can’t muck with the data directly this is done by placing the data members in the private section and, placing member functions to access & modify that data in the public section
46	Data Hiding So, the public section includes the data and operations that are visible, accessible, and useable by all of the clients that have objects of this class this means that the information in the public section is “transparent”; therefore, all of the data and operations are accessible outside the scope of this class by default, nothing in a class is public!
47	Data Hiding The private section includes the data and operations that are not visible to any other class or client this means that the information in the private section is “opaque” and therefore is inaccessible outside the scope of this class the client has no direct access to the data and must use the public member functions this is where you should place all data to ensure the memory’s integrity
48	Data Hiding The good news is that member functions defined in the public section can use, return, or modify the contents of any of the data members, directly it is best to assume that member functions are the only way to work with private data (there are “friends” but don’t use them this term) Think of the member functions and private data as working together as a team
49	“class” Terminology Let’s see how “display_all” can access the data members: class list { public: notice it is public int display_all() { for (int i=0; i<num_of_videos; ++i) cout <<my_list[i].title <<‘\t’ <<my_list[i].category <<‘\t’ <<my_list[i].quantity <<endl; } ••• private: video my_list[CONST_SIZE]; int num_of_videos; };
50	Data Hiding Notice, that the display_all function can access the private my_list and num_of_videos members, directly without an object in front of them!!! this is because the client calls the display_all function through an object object.display_all(); so the object is implicitly available once we enter “class scope”
51	Where to place.... In reality, the previous example was misleading. We don’t place the implementation of functions with this this class interface Instead, we place them in the class implementation, and separate this into its own file
52	Class Interface (.h) Class Interface: list.h class list { public: int display_all() ••• private: video my_list[CONST_SIZE]; int num_of_videos; }; list.h can contain: prototype statements structure declarations and definitions class interfaces and class declarations include other files
53	Class Implementation Class Implementation list.c #include “list.h” notice the double quotes int list::display_all() { for (int i=0; i<num_of_videos; ++i) cout <<my_list[i].title <<‘\t’ <<my_list[i].category <<‘\t’ <<my_list[i].quantity <<endl; } Notice, the code is the same But, the function is prefaced with the class name and the scope resolution operator! This places the function in class scope even though it is implemented in another file Including the list.h file is a “must”
54	Constructors Remember that when you define a local variable in C++, the memory is not automatically initialized for you This could be a problem with classes and objects If we define an object of our list class, we really need the “num_of_videos” data member to have the value zero Uninitialized just wouldn’t work!
55	Constructors Luckily, with a constructor we can write a function to initialize our data members and have it implicitly be invoked whenever a client creates an object of the class The constructor is a strange function, as it has the same name as the class, and no return type (at all...not even void).
56	Constructor The list constructor was: (list.h) class list { public: list(); <--- the constructor ••• }; The implementation is: (list.c) list::list(){ num_of_videos = 0; }
57	Constructor The constructor is implicitly invoked when an object of the class is formed: int main() { list fun_videos; implicitly calls the constructor list all_videos[10]; implicitly calls the constructor 10 times for each of the 10 objects!!
58	Dynamic Memory w/ Classes But, what if we didn’t want to waste memory for the title (100 characters may be way too big (Big, with Tom Hanks) So, let’s change our video structure to include a dynamically allocated array: struct video { char * title; char category[5]; int quantity; };
59	Dynamic Memory w/ Classes Let’s write a class that now allocates this list of videos dynamically, at run time This way, we can wait until we run our program to find out how much memory should be allocated for our video array
60	Dynamic Memory w/ Classes What changes in this case are the data members: class list { public: list(); int add (const video &); int remove (char title[]); int display_all(); private: video *my_list; int video_list_size; int num_of_videos; };
61	Default Constructor Now, let’s think about the implementation. First, what should the constructor do? initialize the data members list::list() { my_list = NULL; video_list_size = 0; num_of_videos = 0; }
62	Another Constructor Remember function overloading? We can have the same named function occur (in the same scope) if the argument lists are unique. So, we can have another constructor take in a value as an argument of the number of videos and go ahead and allocate the memory, so that subsequent functions can use the array
63	2nd Constructor list::list(int size) { my_list = new video [size]; video_list_size = size; num_of_videos = 0; } Notice, unlike arrays of characters, we don’t need to add one for the terminating nul!
64	Clients creating objects The client can cause this 2nd constructor to be invoked by defining objects with initial values list fun_videos(20); //size is 20 If a size isn’t supplied, then no memory is allocated and nothing can be stored in the array....
65	Default Arguments To fix this problem, we can merge the two constructors and replace them with a single constructor: list::list(int size=100) { my_list = new video [size]; video_list_size = size; num_of_videos = 0; } (Remember, to change the prototype for the constructor in the class interface)
66	Destructor Then, we can deallocate the memory when the lifetime of a list object is over When is that? Luckily, when the client’s object of the list class lifetime is over (at the end of the block in which it is defined) -- the destructor is implicitly invoked
67	Destructor So, all we have to do is write a destructor to deallocate our dynamic memory. list::~list() { delete [] my_list; my_list = NULL; ••• } (Notice the ~ in front of the function name) (It can take NO arguments and has NO return type) (This too must be in the class interface....)
68	Review of Classes What is the difference between a class and a struct What is a data member? Where should a data member be placed in a class? (what section) What is a member function? Where should member functions be placed, if clients should use them?
69	Review of Classes What is the difference between a member function and a regular-old C++ function? What is the purpose of the constructor? Why is it important to implement a constructor? What is the difference between a class and an object?
70	Review of Classes Show an example of how a client program defines an object of a list class How then would the client program call the constructor? (trick question!) How then would the client program call the display_all function? Why are parens needed?
71	Review of Classes Write a simple class interface (called number) that has the following members: an integer private data member (containing a value) a constructor a set member function, that takes an integer as an argument and returns nothing a display member function
72	Review of Classes Now, let’s try our hand at implementing these functions a constructor a set member function, that takes an integer as an argument and returns nothing a display member function
73	Review of Classes What happens if we forgot to put the keyword public in the previous class interface? Why is it necessary to place the class name, followed by the scope resolution operator (::) when we implement a member function outside of a class?