C/C++ Programming interview questions and answers

By Satish Shetty, July 14th, 2004

What is encapsulation??

Containing and hiding information about an object, such as internal data structures
and code. Encapsulation isolates the internal complexity of an object's operation from
the rest of the application. For example, a client component asking for net revenue
from a business object need not know the data's origin.

What is inheritance?

Inheritance allows one class to reuse the state and behavior of another class. The
derived class inherits the properties and method implementations of the base class and
extends it by overriding methods and adding additional properties and methods.

What is Polymorphism??

Polymorphism allows a client to treat different objects in the same way even if they
were created from different classes and exhibit different behaviors.

You can use implementation inheritance to achieve polymorphism in languages such

as C++ and Java.

Base class object's pointer can invoke methods in derived class objects.

You can also achieve polymorphism in C++ by function overloading and operator
overloading.

What is constructor or ctor?

Constructor creates an object and initializes it. It also creates vtable for virtual
functions. It is different from other methods in a class.

What is destructor?

Destructor usually deletes any extra resources allocated by the object. 

What is default constructor?

Constructor with no arguments or all the arguments has default values.

What is copy constructor?

Constructor which initializes the it's object member variables ( by shallow copying)
with another object of the same class. If you don't implement one in your class then
compiler implements one for you.

for example:
Boo Obj1(10); // calling Boo constructor

Boo Obj2(Obj1); // calling boo copy constructor

Boo Obj2 = Obj1;// calling boo copy constructor

When are copy constructors called?

Copy constructors are called in following cases: 

a) when a function returns an object of that class by value
b) when the object of that class is passed by value as an argument to a function
c) when you construct an object based on another object of the same class
d) When compiler generates a temporary object

What is assignment operator?

Default assignment operator handles assigning one object to another of the same class.
Member to member copy (shallow copy)

What are all the implicit member functions of the class? Or what are all the functions
which compiler implements for us if we don't define one.??

default ctor
copy ctor
assignment operator
default destructor
address operator

What is conversion constructor?

constructor with a single argument makes that constructor as conversion ctor and it
can be used for type conversion.

for example:
class Boo
{
  public:
    Boo( int i );
};

Boo BooObject = 10 ; // assigning int 10 Boo object

What is conversion operator??

class can have a public method for specific data type conversions.

for example:
class Boo
{
  double value;
  public:
    Boo(int i )
    operator double() 
    { 
  return value;
    }
};

Boo BooObject;

double i  = BooObject; // assigning object to variable i of type double. now

conversion  operator gets called to assign the value.

What is diff between malloc()/free() and new/delete?

malloc allocates memory for object in heap but doesn't invoke object's constructor to
initiallize the object.

new allocates memory and also invokes constructor to initialize the object.

malloc() and free() do not support object semantics 

Does not construct and destruct objects 
string * ptr = (string *)(malloc (sizeof(string)))
Are not safe 
Does not calculate the size of the objects that it construct 
Returns a pointer to void 
int *p = (int *) (malloc(sizeof(int)));
int *p = new int;
Are not extensible 
new and delete can be overloaded in a class 

"delete" first calls the object's termination routine (i.e. its destructor) and then releases
the space the object occupied on the heap memory. If an array of objects was created
using new, then delete must be told that it is dealing with an array by preceding the
name with an empty []:-

Int_t *my_ints = new Int_t[10];

...

delete []my_ints;

what is the diff between "new" and "operator new" ?

"operator new" works like malloc.

What is difference between template and macro??

There is no way for the compiler to verify that the macro parameters are of compatible
types. The macro is expanded without any special type checking.

If macro parameter has a postincremented variable ( like c++ ), the increment is

performed two times.

Because macros are expanded by the preprocessor, compiler error messages will refer
to the expanded macro, rather than the macro definition itself. Also, the macro will
show up in expanded form during debugging.

for example:

Macro:

#define min(i, j) (i < j ? i : j)

template:
template<class T> 
T min (T i, T j) 
{ 
return i < j ? i : j;
}

What are C++ storage classes?

auto
register
static
extern

auto: the default. Variables are automatically created and initialized when they are
defined and are destroyed at the end of the block containing their definition. They are
not visible outside that block

register: a type of auto variable. a suggestion to the compiler to use a CPU register
for performance

static: a variable that is known only in the function that contains its definition but is
never destroyed and retains its value between calls to that function. It exists from the
time the program begins execution

extern: a static variable whose definition and placement is determined when all object
and library modules are combined (linked) to form the executable code file. It can be
visible outside the file where it is defined.

What are storage qualifiers in C++ ?

They are..

const
volatile
mutable

Const keyword indicates that memory once initialized, should not be altered by a

program.

volatile keyword indicates that the value in the memory location can be altered even
though nothing in the program
code modifies the contents. for example if you have a pointer to hardware location
that contains the time, where hardware changes the value of this pointer variable and
not the program. The intent of this keyword to improve the optimization ability of the
compiler.   

mutable keyword indicates that particular member of a structure or class can be

altered even if a particular structure variable, class, or class member function is
constant.

struct data
{
char name[80];
mutable double salary;
}

const data MyStruct = { "Satish Shetty", 1000 }; //initlized by complier

strcpy ( MyStruct.name, "Shilpa Shetty"); // compiler error

MyStruct.salaray = 2000 ; // complier is happy allowed

What is reference ??

reference is a name that acts as an alias, or alternative name, for a previously defined
variable or an object.

prepending variable with "&" symbol makes it as reference.

for example:

int a;
int &b = a; 
 

What is passing by reference?

Method of passing arguments to a function which takes parameter of type reference.

for example:

void swap( int & x, int & y )

{
 int temp = x;
 x = y;
 y = temp; 
}
int a=2, b=3;

swap( a, b );

Basically, inside the function there won't be any copy of the arguments "x" and "y"
instead they refer to original variables a and b. so no extra memory needed to pass
arguments and it is more efficient. 
 

When do use "const" reference arguments in function?

a) Using const protects you against programming errors that inadvertently alter data.
b) Using const allows function to process both const and non-const actual arguments,
while a function without const in the prototype can only accept non constant
arguments.
c) Using a const reference allows the function to generate and use a temporary
variable appropriately.
 

When are temporary variables created by C++ compiler?

Provided that function parameter is a "const reference", compiler generates temporary

variable in following 2 ways.

a) The actual argument is the correct type, but it isn't Lvalue

double Cube(const double & num)

{
  num = num * num * num;
  return num;

double temp = 2.0;

double value = cube(3.0 + temp); // argument is a expression and not a Lvalue;

b) The actual argument is of the wrong type, but of a type that can be converted to the
correct type

long temp = 3L;

double value = cuberoot ( temp); // long to double conversion 
What is virtual function?

When derived class overrides the base class method by redefining the same function,
then if client wants to access redefined the method from derived class through a
pointer from base class object, then you must define this function in base class as
virtual function.

class parent
{
   void Show() 
{ 
cout << "i'm parent" << endl;
}
};

class child: public parent

{
   void Show() 
{ 
cout << "i'm child" << endl;
}

};

parent * parent_object_ptr = new child;

parent_object_ptr->show() // calls parent->show() i 

now we goto virtual world...

class parent
{
   virtual void Show() 
{ 
cout << "i'm parent" << endl;
}
};

class child: public parent

{
   void Show() 
{ 
cout << "i'm child" << endl;
}

};

parent * parent_object_ptr = new child;

parent_object_ptr->show() // calls child->show()  

What is pure virtual function? or what is abstract class?

When you define only function prototype in a base class without implementation and
do the complete implementation in derived class. This base class is called abstract
class and client won't able to instantiate an object using this base class.

You can make a pure virtual function or abstract class this way..

class Boo
{
void foo() = 0;
}

Boo MyBoo; // compilation error

 
What is Memory alignment??

The term alignment primarily means the tendency of an address pointer value to be a
multiple of some power of two. So a pointer with two byte alignment has a zero in the
least significant bit. And a pointer with four byte alignment has a zero in both the two
least significant bits. And so on. More alignment means a longer sequence of zero bits
in the lowest bits of a pointer.

What problem does the namespace feature solve?

Multiple providers of libraries might use common global identifiers causing a name
collision when an application tries to link with two or more such libraries. The
namespace feature surrounds a library's external declarations with a unique namespace
that eliminates the potential for those collisions.

namespace [identifier] { namespace-body }

A namespace declaration identifies and assigns a name to a declarative region.
The identifier in a namespace declaration must be unique in the declarative region in
which it is used. The identifier is the name of the namespace and is used to reference
its members.

What is the use of 'using' declaration?

A using declaration makes it possible to use a name from a namespace without the
scope operator. 

What is an Iterator class?

A class that is used to traverse through the objects maintained by a container class.
There are five categories of iterators: input iterators, output iterators, forward iterators,
bidirectional iterators, random access. An iterator is an entity that gives access to the
contents of a container object without violating encapsulation constraints. Access to
the contents is granted on a one-at-a-time basis in order. The order can be storage
order (as in lists and queues) or some arbitrary order (as in array indices) or according
to some ordering relation (as in an ordered binary tree). The iterator is a construct,
which provides an interface that, when called, yields either the next element in the
container, or some value denoting the fact that there are no more elements to examine.
Iterators hide the details of access to and update of the elements of a container class.
Something like a pointer. 

What is a dangling pointer?

A dangling pointer arises when you use the address of an object after its lifetime is
over. This may occur in situations like returning addresses of the automatic variables
from a function or using the address of the memory block after it is freed.

What do you mean by Stack unwinding?

It is a process during exception handling when the destructor is called for all local
objects in the stack between the place where the exception was thrown and where it is
caught.

Name the operators that cannot be overloaded??

sizeof, ., .*, .->, ::, ?: 

What is a container class? What are the types of container classes?

A container class is a class that is used to hold objects in memory or external storage.
A container class acts as a generic holder. A container class has a predefined behavior
and a well-known interface. A container class is a supporting class whose purpose is
to hide the topology used for maintaining the list of objects in memory. When a
container class contains a group of mixed objects, the container is called a
heterogeneous container; when the container is holding a group of objects that are all
the same, the container is called a homogeneous container. 

What is inline function??

The __inline keyword tells the compiler to substitute the code within the function
definition for every instance of a function call. However, substitution occurs only at
the compiler's discretion. For example, the compiler does not inline a function if its
address is taken or if it is too large to inline.
   

What is overloading??

With the C++ language, you can overload functions and operators. Overloading is the
practice of supplying more than one definition for a given function name in the same
scope.

- Any two functions in a set of overloaded functions must have different argument
lists.
- Overloading functions with argument lists of the same types, based on return type
alone, is an error. 

What is Overriding?

To override a method, a subclass of the class that originally declared the method must
declare a method with the same name, return type (or a subclass of that return type),
and same parameter list.
The definition of the method overriding is: 
· Must have same method name.  
· Must have same data type.  
· Must have same argument list.  
Overriding a method means that replacing a method functionality in child class. To
imply overriding functionality we need parent and child classes. In the child class you
define the same method signature as one defined in the parent class.

What is "this" pointer?

The this pointer is a pointer accessible only within the member functions of a class,
struct, or union type. It points to the object for which the member function is called.
Static member functions do not have a this pointer.

When a nonstatic member function is called for an object, the address of the object is
passed as a hidden argument to the function. For example, the following function call

myDate.setMonth( 3 );

can be interpreted this way:

setMonth( &myDate, 3 );

The object's address is available from within the member function as the this pointer.
It is legal, though unnecessary, to use the this pointer when referring to members of
the class.

What happens when you make call "delete this;" ??

The code has two built-in pitfalls. First, if it executes in a member function for an
extern, static, or automatic object, the program will probably crash as soon as the
delete statement executes. There is no portable way for an object to tell that it was
instantiated on the heap, so the class cannot assert that its object is properly
instantiated. Second, when an object commits suicide this way, the using program
might not know about its demise. As far as the instantiating program is concerned, the
object remains in scope and continues to exist even though the object did itself in.
Subsequent dereferencing of the pointer can and usually does lead to disaster.

You should never do this. Since compiler does not know whether the object was
allocated on the stack or on the heap, "delete this" could cause a disaster.

How virtual functions are implemented C++?

Virtual functions are implemented using a table of function pointers, called the
vtable.  There is one entry in the table per virtual function in the class.  This table is
created by the constructor of the class.  When a derived class is constructed, its base
class is constructed first which creates the vtable.  If the derived class overrides any of
the base classes virtual functions, those entries in the vtable are overwritten by the
derived class constructor.  This is why you should never call virtual functions from a
constructor: because the vtable entries for the object may not have been set up by the
derived class constructor yet, so you might end up calling base class implementations
of those virtual functions
What is name mangling in C++??

The process of encoding the parameter types with the function/method name into a
unique name is called name mangling. The inverse process is called demangling.

For example Foo::bar(int, long) const is mangled as `bar__C3Fooil'. 

For a constructor, the method name is left out. That is Foo::Foo(int, long) const is
mangled as `__C3Fooil'.

What is the difference between a pointer and a reference?

A reference must always refer to some object and, therefore, must always be
initialized; pointers do not have such restrictions. A pointer can be reassigned to point
to different objects while a reference always refers to an object with which it was
initialized.

How are prefix and postfix versions of operator++() differentiated?

The postfix version of operator++() has a dummy parameter of type int. The prefix
version does not have dummy parameter.

What is the difference between const char *myPointer and char *const myPointer?

Const char *myPointer is a non constant pointer to constant data; while char *const
myPointer is a constant pointer to non constant data.

How can I handle a constructor that fails?

throw an exception. Constructors don't have a return type, so it's not possible to use
return codes. The best way to signal constructor failure is therefore to throw an
exception.

How can I handle a destructor that fails?

Write a message to a log-file. But do not throw an exception. 

The C++ rule is that you must never throw an exception from a destructor that is
being called during the "stack unwinding" process of another exception. For example,
if someone says throw Foo(), the stack will be unwound so all the stack frames
between the throw Foo() and the } catch (Foo e) { will get popped. This is called stack
unwinding. 
During stack unwinding, all the local objects in all those stack frames are destructed.
If one of those destructors throws an exception (say it throws a Bar object), the C++
runtime system is in a no-win situation: should it ignore the Bar and end up in the }
catch (Foo e) { where it was originally headed? Should it ignore the Foo and look for
a } catch (Bar e) { handler? There is no good answer -- either choice loses
information. 
So the C++ language guarantees that it will call terminate() at this point, and
terminate() kills the process. Bang you're dead. 

What is Virtual Destructor?

Using virtual destructors, you can destroy objects without knowing their type - the
correct destructor for the object is invoked using the virtual function mechanism. Note
that destructors can also be declared as pure virtual functions for abstract classes.

if someone will derive from your class, and if someone will say "new Derived", where
"Derived" is derived from your class, and if someone will say delete p, where the
actual object's type is "Derived" but the pointer p's type is your class.

 
Can you think of a situation where your program would crash without reaching the
breakpoint which you set at the beginning of main()?

C++ allows for dynamic initialization of global variables before main() is invoked. It
is possible that initialization of global will invoke some function. If this function
crashes the crash will occur before main() is entered. 

Name two cases where you MUST use initialization list as opposed to assignment in
constructors.

Both non-static const data members and reference data members cannot be assigned
values; instead, you should use initialization list to initialize them. 

Can you overload a function based only on whether a parameter is a value or a reference?

No. Passing by value and by reference looks identical to the caller. 

What are the differences between a C++ struct and C++ class?

The default member and base class access specifiers are different.

The C++ struct has all the features of the class. The only differences are that a struct
defaults to public member access and public base class inheritance, and a class
defaults to the private access specifier and private base class inheritance. 

What does extern "C" int func(int *, Foo) accomplish?

It will turn off "name mangling" for func so that one can link to code compiled by a C
compiler. 

How do you access the static member of a class?

<ClassName>::<StaticMemberName>

What is multiple inheritance(virtual inheritance)? What are its advantages and

disadvantages?

Multiple Inheritance is the process whereby a child can be derived from more than
one parent class. The advantage of multiple inheritance is that it allows a class to
inherit the functionality of more than one base class thus allowing for modeling of
complex relationships. The disadvantage of multiple inheritance is that it can lead to a
lot of confusion(ambiguity) when two base classes implement a method with the same
name.

What are the access privileges in C++? What is the default access level?

The access privileges in C++ are private, public and protected. The default access
level assigned to members of a class is private. Private members of a class are
accessible only within the class and by friends of the class. Protected members are
accessible by the class itself and it's sub-classes. Public members of a class can be
accessed by anyone.

What is a nested class? Why can it be useful?

A nested class is a class enclosed within the scope of another class. For example:

  //  Example 1: Nested class

  //
  class OuterClass
 {
    class NestedClass
    {
      // ...
    };
    // ...
  };
Nested classes are useful for organizing code and controlling access and
dependencies. Nested classes obey access rules just like other parts of a class do; so,
in Example 1, if NestedClass is public then any code can name it as
OuterClass::NestedClass. Often nested classes contain private implementation details,
and are therefore made private; in Example 1, if NestedClass is private, then only
OuterClass's members and friends can use NestedClass.

When you instantiate as outer class, it won't instantiate inside class.

What is a local class? Why can it be useful?

local class is a class defined within the scope of a function -- any function, whether a
member function or a free function. For example:

  //  Example 2: Local class

  //
  int f()
 {
    class LocalClass
    {
      // ...
    };
    // ...
  };
Like nested classes, local classes can be a useful tool for managing code
dependencies. 

Can a copy constructor accept an object of the same class as parameter, instead of
reference of the object?
 

No. It is specified in the definition of the copy constructor itself. It should generate an
error if a programmer specifies a copy constructor with a first argument that is an
object and not a reference.

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