Thread: Classes help!

I searched the forums and came up with nothing (I was amazed at that fact). The tutorial didn't help me understand classes. Their example kept referring to processorspeed and it never changed anything. First they said it was equal to 0, then equal to p.

Code:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class Computer // Standard way of defining the class
{
public:
  // This means that all of the functions below this(and any variables)
  //  are accessible to the rest of the program.
  //  NOTE: That is a colon, NOT a semicolon...
  Computer();
  // Constructor
  ~Computer();
  // Destructor
  void setspeed ( int p );
  int readspeed();
protected:
  // This means that all the variables under this, until a new type of
  //  restriction is placed, will only be accessible to other functions in the
  //  class.  NOTE: That is a colon, NOT a semicolon...
  int processorspeed;
};
// Do Not forget the trailing semi-colon

Computer::Computer()
{
  //Constructors can accept arguments, but this one does not
  processorspeed = 0;
}

Computer::~Computer()
{
  //Destructors do not accept arguments
}

void Computer::setspeed ( int p )
{
  // To define a function outside put the name of the class
  //  after the return type and then two colons, and then the name
  //  of the function.
  processorspeed = p;
}
int Computer::readspeed()  
{
  // The two colons simply tell the compiler that the function is part
  //  of the class
  return processorspeed;
}

int main()
{
  Computer compute;  
  // To create an 'instance' of the class, simply treat it like you would
  //  a structure.  (An instance is simply when you create an actual object
  //  from the class, as opposed to having the definition of the class)
  compute.setspeed ( 100 ); 
  // To call functions in the class, you put the name of the instance,
  //  a period, and then the function name.
  cout<< compute.readspeed();
  // See above note.
}

setspeed is equal to readspeed? This doesn't make sense! Can someone please explain this and maybe give a simple, more common example. Thanks in advance!

setspeed() assigns a value to the processorspeed member variable, then readspeed() returns the value of processorspeed. I don't know how much more clear you can make it than that?

BTW, some notes on programming style I noticed:
- I've almost always seen code comments appear above the line that it's talking about, not below it. So your comments might appear a bit weird to most people.
- These days most people use mixed case for function & variable names. They usually begin each word with a capital letter. (ex. SetSpeed(), ReadSpeed()...) It just makes it easier to read.
- It's a good idea to prefix your class member variables with something to make them stand out from regular function variable names. Many people like to use a "m_" prefix to mean "member variable" (ex. m_ProcessorSpeed). This way, when you're reading a large piece of code, and you see a variable that starts with m_, you immediately know it's defined in the class, not in the function, and that changing its value will affect the whole object's state.

Thanks for the help, I'm starting to get it. And by the way I just coppied the code from the tutorial. \/

BTW, some notes on programming style I noticed:
- I've almost always seen code comments appear above the line that it's talking about, not below it. So your comments might appear a bit weird to most people.
- These days most people use mixed case for function & variable names. They usually begin each word with a capital letter. (ex. SetSpeed(), ReadSpeed()...) It just makes it easier to read.
- It's a good idea to prefix your class member variables with something to make them stand out from regular function variable names. Many people like to use a "m_" prefix to mean "member variable" (ex. m_ProcessorSpeed). This way, when you're reading a large piece of code, and you see a variable that starts with m_, you immediately know it's defined in the class, not in the function, and that changing its value will affect the whole object's state.