Description
Exercise A: AR Diagram with C++ Reference Type
Read This First:
The AR notations that we use to show C++ references, are different from ordinary types such as: int, double,
and pointer notations. This is because, when we declare a reference, we just provide an alias name for
another memory spaces.
Therefore, references in C++ don’t have their own memory spaces, and we show
them as a link (a line) between the reference-identifier and the actual allocated memory spaces. There are
two little circles on both ends of these links. On one end there is a solid-black circle that represents the
reference, and on the other end there is an open circle that represents the actual allocated memory space.
Here is an example:
int main(void) {
int a = 40;
int*p = &a;
int& ra = a; // ra is referred to integer a
int*& rp = p; // rp is referred to integer pointer p
int& rra = ra; // rra is also referred to a
return 0;
}
Notice that all references ra, rp, and rra must be initialized with an expression that represents an actual
memory space or another reference.
What to Do:
Download the file lab3exe_A.cpp from D2L. Then, draw AR diagrams for points one, and two. You don’t
need to compile or run this program but if you want to do so, you should know that, this is a C++ program and
you have to use the following command to compile it:
g++ –Wall lab3exe_A.cpp
Submit your diagrams.
Exercise B: Objects on the Computer Memory in C++
The objective of this exercise is to help you in understanding how C++ class objects are shown on memory
diagram, and to find out how C++ class objects are associated with their member functions via a pointer ‘this’
pointer.
Read This First:
Drawing rules for AR diagrams in a C++ program is like C. However, in addition to the reference notation that
was mentioned in exercise A, you need understand the concept of this pointer.
Every member function of a
class in C++ has a hidden argument as its first argument that is called this. The purpose of this hidden
argument is to allow the compiler to know which object is invoking the function.
Here is a simple example AR
diagram when the constructor of class Point is called for the second time.
class Point {
private:
double x, y;
public:
Point(double a, double b); // prototype of constructor of class Point
…
}; // end of the definition of class Point
// implementation of constructor for class Point. Notice that implementation is
// outside the class definition.
Point::Point(double a, double b) // Point:: indicates that constructor
// belongs to class point
{
x = a; // this is in fact: this -> x = a;
y = b; // this is in fact: this -> y = a;
// POINT ONE
}
int main() {
Point p1(6, 7); // first call to the constructor of class Point
Point p2(10, 20); // second call to the constructor of class Point
…
return 0;
}
Here is the AR diagram for POINT ONE inside the constructor of class Point, when it is called for the second
time:
What to Do:
Download files cplx_number.cpp, cplx_number.h, and lab3exe_B.cpp from the D2L, and draw AR
diagrams for points: one, two, and three. For this exercise you only need to read the given files carefully and
draw the diagrams.
You don’t need to compile or run the program. However, if you want to compile and run it
from command line on our lab computers you should have all of the given files in the same directory and from
that directory you should use the following command to compile and create the executable, a.exe:
g++ –Wall cplx_number.cpp lab3exe_B.cpp
Please notice that you shouldn’t have any header file name(s) in this command — only the .cpp files.
Please submit your diagrams as part of your lab-report.
Exercise C (16 marks): Writing a Class Definition and Its Implementation:
Read This First – What is a Helper Function?
One of the important elements of good software design is the concept of code-reuse. The idea is that if any
part of the code is repeatedly being used, we should wrap it into a function, and then reuse it by calling the
function as many times as needed.
In the past labs in this course and the previous programming course, we
have seen how we can develop global function to reuse them as needed. A similar approach can be applied
within a C++ class by implementing helper-functions.
These are the functions that are declared as private
member functions and are only available to the member functions of the class — Not available to the
global functions such as main or member functions of the other classes.
If you pay close attention to the given instruction in the following “What to Do” section, you will find that there
are some class member functions that need to implement a similar algorithm.
They all need to change the
value of data members of the class in a more or less similar fashion. Then, it can be useful if you write one or
more private helper-function, that can be called by any of the other member functions of the class, as
needed.
Read This Second – Instructions to Design Class – Clock
In this exercise you are going to design and implement a C++ class called, Clock that represents a 24-hour
clock.
This class should have three private integer data members called: hour, minute, and second. The
minimum value of these data members is zero and their maximum values should be based on the following
rules:
• The values of minute, and second in the objects of class Clock cannot be less than 0 or more
than 59.
• The value of hour in the objects of class Clock cannot be less than 0 or more than 23.
• As an example any of the following values of hour, minute, and second is acceptable for an object of
class Clock (format is hours:minutes:seconds) : 00:00:59, 00:59:59, 23:59:59,
00:00:00. And, all of the following examples are unacceptable:
▪ 24:00:00 (hour cannot exceed 23)
▪ 00:90:00 (minute of second cannot exceed 59)
▪ 23:-1:05 (none of the data members of class Clock can be negative)
Class Clock should have three constructors:
A default constructor, that sets the values of the data-members hour, minute, and second to zeros.
A second constructor, that receives an integer argument in seconds, and initializes the Clock data members
with the values for hour, minute, and second in this argument. For example, if the argument value is 4205,
the values of data members hour, minute and second should be: 1, 10, and 5 respectively. If the given
argument value is negative the constructor should simply initialize the data members all to zeros.
The third constructor receives three integer arguments and initializes the data members hour, minute,
and second with the values of these arguments. If any of the following conditions are true this constructor
should simply initialize the data members of the Clock object all to zeros:
• If the given values for second or minute are greater than 59 or less than zero.
• If the given value for hour is greater than 23 or less than zero.
Class Clock should also provide a group of access member functions (getters, and setters) that allow the
users of the class to retrieve values of each data member, or to modify the entire value of time.
As a
convention, lets have the name of the getter functions started with the word get, and the setter functions
started with word set, both followed by an underscore, and then followed by the name of data member.
For
example, the getter for the data member hour should be called get_hour, and he setter for the data member
hour should be called set_hour. Remember that getter functions must be declared as a const member
function to make them read-only functions.
All setter functions must check the argument of the function not to exceed the minimum and maximum limits of
the data member. If the value of the argument is below or above the limit the functions are supposed to do
nothing.
In addition to the above-mentioned constructors and access functions, class Clock should also have a group
of functions for additional functionalities (lets call them implementer functions) as follows:
1. A member function called increment that increments the value of the clock’s time by one.
Example: If the current value of time is 23:59:59, this function will change it to: 00:00:00 (which is
midnight sharp). Or, if the value of the time is 00:00:00 a call to this function increments it by one
and makes it: 00:00:01 (one second past midnight – the next day)
2. A member function called decrement that decrements the value of the clock’s time by one.
Example: If the current value of time is 00:00:00, this function will change it to: 23:59:59.
Or, if the
value of current time is 00:00:01, this function will change it to: 00:00:00
A member function called add_seconds that REQUIRES to receive a positive integer argument in seconds,
and adds the value of given seconds to the value of the current time.
For example, if the clock’s time is
23:00:00, and the given argument is 3601 seconds, the time should change to: 00:00:01.
3. Two helper functions. These functions should be called to help the implementation of the other
member functions, as needed. Most of the above-mentioned constructors and implementer function
should be able to use these functions:
• A private function called hms_to_sec: that returns the total value of data members in a Clock
object, in seconds. For example, if the time value of a Clock object is 01:10:10, returns 4210
seconds.
• A private function called sec_to_hms, which works in an opposite way. It receives an argument
(say, n), in seconds, and sets the values for the Clock data members, second, minute, and
hour, based on this argument. For example, if n is 4210 seconds, the data members values
should be: 1, 10 and 10, respectively for hour, minute, and second.
What To Do:
If you haven’t already read the “Read This First” and “Read This Second”, in the above sections, read them
first. The recommended concept of helper function can help you to reduce the size of repeated code in your
program.
Then, download file lab3exe_C.cpp from D2L. This file contains the code to be used for testing your class
Clock.
Now, take the following steps to write the definition and implementation of your class Clock as instructed in the
above “Read This Second” section.
1. Create a header file called lab3Clock.h and write the definition of your class Clock in this file.
Make sure to use the appropriate preprocessor directives (#ifndef, #define, and #endif), to
prevent the compiler from duplication of the content of this header file during the compilation process.
Marks will be deducted if appropriate style of creating header files is not followed.
2. Create another file called lab3Clock.cpp and write the implementation of the member functions of
class Clock in this file (remember to include “lab3Clock.h”).
3. Compile files lab3exe_C.cpp (that contain the given main functions) and lab3Clock.cpp to
create your executable file. Note that when compiling your code, use g++ command and not gcc
and moreover only compile the .cpp files (lab3exe_C.cpp and lab3Clock.cpp). header file
lab3Clock.h, shouldn’t appear on the command line.
4. If your program shows any compilation or runtime errors fix them until your program produces the
expected output as mentioned in the given main function.
5. Now you are done!
What to Submit:
1. Copy and paste lab3Clock.h, and lab3Clock.cpp, and the program’s output as part of your report.
2. Create a zip file that contains all your actual source codes (.cpp and .h file). Save you zip file using the following
name-format: lab3exe_C_yourLastName.zip.
3. Then, submit your zip and your lab report on the D2L Dropbox.
Exercise D: Design a Dynamic Array Class
Read This First:
This exercise is designed to give you some insight about a resizable array class. It also shows other feature of
C++ including proper way of copying objects of this class.
What to do:
Download files MyArray.h and lab3exe_D.cpp. Then read the file MyArray.h, which tells you what the
MyArray class interface is and what the member variables are. Pay close attention to the comment that
describes the memory management strategy for the MyArray class.
Read the file lab3exe_D.cpp, which demonstrates how a MyArray object could be used.
The file MyArray.cpp is missing. It’s your job to write this file.
What to Submit:
Submit your file MyArray.cpp and your program output as part of your lab report.
