Chapter 14: Problem 52

T F You cannot use the = operator to assign one object’s values to another object, unless you overload the operator.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Explain why or why not.

Step by step solution

Understanding the Assignment Operator

The '=' operator is known as the assignment operator in most programming languages. It assigns the value of the right-hand side expression to the variable on the left-hand side. For example, let `a = 5`. Now, the variable `a` holds the value 5.

Non-object Assignment

When dealing with non-object data types, such as integers, floats, or strings, the assignment operator can be used directly without any additional requirements like overloading. For example, let `int a = 5;` and `int b = a;`. Now, `b` holds the same value as `a`, which is 5.

Object Assignment and Shallow Copy

When working with objects, using the assignment operator without any modifications can cause unexpected behavior. This is because, by default, the assignment operator performs a shallow copy of the object, which means it copies the reference rather than the actual values. Therefore, when changes are made to the original object, they are reflected in the copied object since both objects reference the same memory location.

Overloading the = Operator for Deep Copy

To assign one object's values to another object correctly, we can overload the '=' operator to perform a deep copy. A deep copy means that the actual values are copied, and the objects have separate memory locations. Modifying one object will not affect the other object's values.

Conclusion

The given statement, "You cannot use the = operator to assign one object’s values to another object, unless you overload the operator," is True. It is essential to overload the = operator for object assignment to avoid problems associated with shallow copies and to ensure that the two objects hold separate memory locations and can be modified independently.

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T F You cannot use the = operator to assign one object’s values to another object, unless you overload the operator.

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Understanding the Assignment Operator

Non-object Assignment

Object Assignment and Shallow Copy

Overloading the = Operator for Deep Copy

Conclusion

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