The following code example is taken from the book
Object-Oriented Programming in C++
by Nicolai M. Josuttis, Wiley, 2002
© Copyright Nicolai M. Josuttis 2002
// header file of the separate class
#include "string.hpp"
// C header files for string functions
#include <cstring>
#include <cctype>
// **** BEGIN namespace CPPBook ********************************
namespace CPPBook {
/* constructor from C-string (const char*)
* - default for s: empty string
*/
String::String(const char* s)
{
len = std::strlen(s); // number of characters
size = len; // number of characters determines size of memory
buffer = new char[size]; // allocate memory
std::memcpy(buffer,s,len); // copy characters into memory
}
/* copy constructor
*/
String::String(const String& s)
{
len = s.len; // copy number of characters
size = len; // number of characters
// determines size of memory
buffer = new char[size]; // allocate memory
std::memcpy(buffer,s.buffer,len); // copy characters
}
/* destructor
*/
String::~String()
{
// release memory allocated with new[]
delete [] buffer;
}
/* operator =
* - assignment
*/
String& String::operator= (const String& s)
{
// assignment of a string to itself has no effect
if (this == &s) {
return *this; // return string
}
len = s.len; // copy number of characters
// if there is not enough space, enlarge
if (size < len) {
delete [] buffer; // release old memory
size = len; // number of characters determines new size
buffer = new char[size]; // allocate memory
}
std::memcpy(buffer,s.buffer,len); // copy characters
return *this; // return modified string
}
/* operator ==
* - compares two strings
* - global friend function, so that an automatic
* type conversion of the first operand is possible
*/
bool operator== (const String& s1, const String& s2)
{
return s1.len == s2.len &&
std::memcmp(s1.buffer,s2.buffer,s1.len) == 0;
}
/* operator +
* - appends two strings
* - global friend function, so that an automatic
* type conversion of the first operand is possible
*/
String operator+ (const String& s1, const String& s2)
{
// allocate buffer for the concatenated string
char* buffer = new char[s1.len+s2.len];
// copy characters into the buffer
std::memcpy (buffer, s1.buffer, s1.len);
std::memcpy (buffer+s1.len, s2.buffer, s2.len);
// create concatenated string from these data and return it
return String(s1.len+s2.len, buffer);
}
/* constructor for uninitialized string of a certain length
* - internally for operator +
*/
String::String(unsigned l, char* buf)
{
len = l; // copy number of characters
size = len; // number of characters determines size of memory
buffer = buf; // copy memory
}
/* output to stream
*/
void String::printOn(std::ostream& strm) const
{
// simply output character string
strm.write(buffer,len);
}
} // **** END namespace CPPBook ********************************