Pointer this in C++
this Pointer
Incase of class data members and member function data members having the same name and there is a situation you need to access the class data in a member function itself, so this pointer in C++ is very useful in these situations.
Pointer this in C++
Definition: this pointer in C++ is used to distinguish data members of the class and member function when having the same name.
‘this’ pointer is a constant pointer that holds the memory address of the current object.
Syntax:
this.var_name;or
this->var_name; Creating this Pointer
- In the below program member function show() contains the variable named ‘a’ and also class test contains a variable with the same name ‘a’.
- The Ambiguity is solved using this pointer, class data is accessed using this->a which gives 1 and function data is accessed normally which gives 10
Example:
#include
using namespace std;
class test
{
int a=1;
public:
void show()
{
int a=10;
//gives object address
cout<<"Current obj address using this:"<<this<<endl;
//class data
cout<<"Will print class's a value using this:"<<this->a<<endl;
//member function data
cout<<"a with out this:"<<a<<endl;//member function data
}
//cout<<"a using this:"<a<<endl;//error:this pointer cannot be used outside the mem function
};
int main()
{
test t;
t.show();
cout<<"current obj address using address:"<<&t<<endl;
}Output:
current obj address using this:0x6ffe40
a using this:1
a with out this:10
current obj address using address:0x6ffe40
When to use this pointer?
- This pointer is relevant only when class and member function data are having the same name.
- This pointer is used for retrieving the current object address even before declaring an object of that class.
- This pointer returns the address by default in the hexadecimal format.
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