Thread: can someone explain the THIS variable

this is a pointer every class has by default; you do not need to declare it anywhere, it is hidden. Within a member function, it points to the object currently being used. If you have a member variable called data for example, anytime you access it within the function, you are actually doing this->data. You can either explicitly do this, or just forget about it since it is done for you without your knowing, it is implied. If you read up on implementing assignment operators for your classes you design, you will find it is necessary to use the this pointer explicitly.

If you want to use a linked lists of class objects then just use the Standard Template Library (STL). The list template object can be used to build linked lists of any data type. Here is an example using a linked list of integers.

Code:

#include <list>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    // Create a linked list object and an associated iterator object.

    list<int> lstIntList;
    list<int>::iterator itIntList;

    // Add elements to the list at front and back and then sort it.

    lstIntList.push_back( 5 );    // List is 5
    lstIntList.push_back( 10 );   // List is 5, 10
    lstIntList.push_front( 12 );  // List is 12, 5, 10
    lstIntList.push_back( 7 );    // List is 12, 5, 10, 7
    lstIntList.push_front( 16 );  // List is 16, 12, 5, 10, 7
    lstIntList.sort();            // List is 5, 7, 10, 12, 16

    // Print out the sorted linked list.

    for( itIntList = lstIntList.begin(); itIntList != lstIntList.end(); ++itIntList )
        cout << *itIntList << endl;

    return 0;
}