Scribd
Upload
8 views

OOP in C++ (Friend Function)

B

Uploaded by

studywithnafis47
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
8 views

OOP in C++ (Friend Function)

B

Uploaded by

studywithnafis47
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 15

OOP in C++

(Friend Function and Friend Class)

Prof. Dr. Md. Abdulla Al Mamun


CSE, HSTU
1
Friend Function
 Concept: class MyClass {
private:
•Data hiding is a fundamental int member1;
concept of object-oriented }
programming. int main() {
MyClass obj;
•It restricts the access of
private and protected // Error! Cannot access private
members from outside of the members from here.
obj.member1 = 5;
class. }
2
Friend Function
 Concept:
•There is a feature in C++ called friend functions that break
this rule and allow us to access member functions from
outside the class.
•If a function is defined as a friend function in C++, then the
protected and private data of a class can be accessed using
the function.

3
Friend Function
 Concept:
•A class’s friend function is defined outside that class’s scope,
but it has the right to access all private and protected
members of the class.
•For accessing the data, the declaration of a friend function
should be done inside the body of a class.
•Even though the prototypes for friend functions appear in
the class definition, friends are not member functions.
4
Friend Function
 Concept:
•A friend function in C++ is a function that is preceded by the
keyword “friend.”
•By using the keyword friend compiler knows the given
function is a friend function.

5
Friend Function
 Syntax:
class className {
... .. ...
friend returnType functionName(arguments);
... .. ...
}
• The function can be defined anywhere in the program like a
normal C++ function. The function definition does not use
either the keyword friend or scope resolution operator.
6
Friend Function
 Example: Working of friend Function
class Distance { // friend function definition
private: int addFive(Distance d) {
int meter;
//accessing private members from the friend function
// friend function d.meter += 5;
friend int addFive(Distance); return d.meter;
}
public:
Distance() : meter(0) {} int main() {
Distance D;
}; cout << "Distance: " << addFive(D);
return 0;
Output }
Distance: 5
7
Friend Function
 Characteristics of friend function:
•A friend function can be declared in the private or public
section of the class.
•It can be called a normal function without using the object.
•A friend function is not in the scope of the class, of which it
is a friend.
•A friend function is not invoked using the class object as it is
not in the class’s scope. 8
Friend Function
 Characteristics of friend function:
•A friend function cannot access the private and protected
data members of the class directly. It needs to make use of a
class object and then access the members using the dot
operator.
•A friend function can be a global function or a member of
another class.

9
Friend Function
 Example: Add Members of Two Different Classes
// forward declaration
class ClassB;

class ClassA {

public:
// constructor to initialize numA to 12
ClassA() : numA(12) {}

private:
int numA;

// friend function declaration


friend int add(ClassA, ClassB);
};
10
Friend Function
 Example: Add Members of Two Different Classes
class ClassB {
public: int main() {
// constructor to initialize numB to 1 ClassA objectA;
ClassB() : numB(1) {} ClassB objectB;
cout << "Sum: " << add(objectA, objectB);
private: return 0;
int numB; }

// friend function declaration


friend int add(ClassA, ClassB);
};
Output
// access members of both classes Sum: 13
int add(ClassA objectA, ClassB objectB) {
return (objectA.numA + objectB.numB);
} 11
Friend Function
 Operator Overloading using friend function: The
Example to overload the binary operator +
class Complex { void display() {
private: cout << real << " + " << imag << "i" << endl;
float real, imag; }
};
public:
Complex(float r = 0, float i = 0) : real(r), imag(i) {} int main() {
Complex c1(2.5, 3.5), c2(1.5, 2.0);
// Friend function to overload the + operator Complex c3 = c1 + c2; // Using the overloaded + operator
friend Complex operator+(const Complex& lhs, const c3.display(); // Output: 4 + 5.5i
Complex& rhs) {
return Complex(lhs.real + rhs.real, lhs.imag + rhs.imag); return 0;
} }
Output
4 + 5.5i 12
Friend Class
 Concept:
•We can also use a friend Class in C++ using the friend
keyword.
•When a class is declared a friend class, all the member
functions of the friend class become friend functions.
•So, a friend class can access both private and protected
members of the class in which it has been declared as
friend.
13
Friend Class
 Concept:
class ClassB;
•Since ClassB is a friend class,
we can access all members of class ClassA {
// ClassB is a friend class of ClassA
ClassA from inside ClassB. friend class ClassB;
... .. ...
•However, we cannot access }
members of ClassB from
inside ClassA. It is because class ClassB {
... .. ...
friend relation in C++ is only }
granted, not taken. 14
class ClassB {
Friend Class private:
int numB;

 An Example: public:
// constructor to initialize numB to 1
ClassB() : numB(1) {}

class ClassB; // forward declaration // member function to add numA from ClassA and numB from ClassB
int add() {
class ClassA { ClassA objectA;
private: return objectA.numA + numB;
int numA; }
};
friend class ClassB; // friend class declaration
int main() {
public: ClassB objectB;
// constructor to initialize numA to 12 cout << "Sum: " << objectB.add();
ClassA() : numA(12) {} return 0;
}; }
Output
Sum: 13 15

You might also like