copy initialization

 

C++

Language

Standard library headers

Concepts

Utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Algorithms library

Iterators library

Numerics library

Input/output library

Localizations library

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Atomic operations library (C++11)

Thread support library (C++11)

Filesystem library (C++17)

Technical Specifications

 

C++ language

 

Initialization

Initializer

Default initialization

Value initialization

Direct initialization

Copy initialization

List initialization

Aggregate initialization

Reference initialization

Static initialization

Zero initialization

Constant initialization

Dynamic non-local initialization

Ordered dynamic initialization

Unordered dynamic initialization

Class member initialization

Member initializer list

in-class brace-or-equal initializer

 

Initializes an object from another object

Syntax

T object = other;	(1)
T object = {other} ;	(2)	(until C++11)
f(other)	(3)
return other;	(4)
throw object; catch (T object)	(5)
T array[N] = {other};	(6)

Explanation

Copy initialization is performed in the following situations:

1) when a named variable (automatic, static, or thread-local) of a non-reference type T is declared with the initializer consisting of an equals sign followed by an expression.

2) (until C++11)when a named variable of a scalar type T is declared with the initializer consisting of an equals sign followed by a brace-enclosed expression (Note: as of C++11, this is classified as list initialization, and narrowing conversion is not allowed).

3) when passing an argument to a function by value

4) when returning from a function that returns by value

5) when throwing or catching an exception by value

6) as part of aggregate initialization, to initialize each element for which an initializer is provided

The effects of copy initialization are:

• If T is a class type and the type of other is cv-unqualified version of T or a class derived from T, the converting constructors of T are examined and the best match is selected by overload resolution. The constructor is then called to initialize the object.

• If T is a class type, and the type of other is different, or if T is non-class type, but the type of other is a class type, user-defined conversion sequences that can convert from the type of other to T (or to a type derived from T if T is a class type and a conversion function is available) are examined and the best one is selected through overload resolution. The result of the conversion, which is a prvalue temporary if a converting constructor was used, is then used to direct-initialize the object. The last step is usually optimized out and the result of the conversion is constructed directly in the memory allocated for the target object, but the appropriate constructor (move or copy) is required to be accessible even though it's not used.

• Otherwise (if neither T nor the type of other are class types), standard conversions are used, if necessary, to convert the value of other to the cv-unqualified version of T.

Notes

Copy-initialization is less permissive than direct-initialization: explicit constructors are not converting constructors and are not considered for copy-initialization.

If other is an rvalue expression, move constructor will be selected by overload resolution and called during copy-initialization. There is no such term as move-initialization.

Implicit conversion is defined in terms of copy-initialization: if an object of type T can be copy-initialized with expression E, then E is implicitly convertible to T.

The equals sign, =, in copy-initialization of a named variable is not related to the assignment operator. Assignment operator overloads have no effect on copy-initialization.

Example

Run this code

#include <string>
#include <utility>
#include <memory>
 
int main()
{
    std::string s = "test"; // OK: constructor is non-explicit
    std::string s2 = std::move(s); // this copy-initialization performs a move
 
//  std::unique_ptr<int> p = new int(1); // error: constructor is explicit
    std::unique_ptr<int> p(new int(1)); // OK: direct-initialization
 
    int n = 3.14;    // floating-integral conversion
    const int b = n; // const doesn't matter
    int c = b;       // ...either way
}

See also

• default initialization
• direct initialization
• aggregate initialization
• list initialization