110 percent novice

[hexaplus]

I have written a good deal of code in java and now must port a program to C++.
If I have a method that returns an object in java equivalently I will return a pointer in c++?

example:
//java

public treeNode getNode(){
return rootNode;
}

//C++
treeNode* getNode(){
return *rootNode;
}
//please pick apart any and all syntactical errors I have made. Thanks!!

[wien]

If I have a method that returns an object in java equivalently I will return a pointer in c++?Not neccesarily. In C++ you have the choice to return objects by either value (like ints and floats in Java) or by reference (through pointers/references). Which one you choose depends completely on what you are trying to achieve. Generally speaking you should only use pointers if there is a particular reason why returning an actual object won't work. (Like I suspect it is in your case.)

One thing though... Trying to directly port a piece of code from Java to C++, is almost always a bad idea. Although very similar in syntax, there are a lot of differences between the two languages, most of which greatly impact the way you implement different concepts. Java programmers like yourself do for example have a tendency to be looking for the Object class, and often try to make one themselves if they want a function to take any kind of object. A much better solution would be to take advantage of C++' template facillity, something most of them overlook completely.

My point is, don't get too caught up in the "Java-way", and try to understand how C++ works instead. Just a friendly piece of advice. :)//please pick apart any and all syntactical errors I have made. Thanks!!To tell if you have done any syntactical blunders, we will need to see some more code. It all depends on how rootNode is declared.

[hexaplus]

mm rootNode is a non-static variable in an instance of treeNode. I guess a better name for the example would be leftNode as in a linked list binary tree.

[Paul McKenzie]

Java programmers like yourself do for example have a tendency to be looking for the Object class, and often try to make one themselves if they want a function to take any kind of object. A much better solution would be to take advantage of C++' template facillity, something most of them overlook completely.Not only that, Java programmers who are trying to port without learning C++ properly believe that "new" in Java is the same as "new" in C++. A sure-fire way to know that a Java programmer has (poorly) written a C++ program is the overuse of "new" all over the place in the program. The program is then full of memory leaks, other run-time programs, and is near impossible to maintain.

The "do it myself object class" and the overusage of "new"

http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269528&highlight=object+java
http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271051&highlight=object+java

are the two most obvious mistakes Java programmers make when writing a C++ program.
My point is, don't get too caught up in the "Java-way", and try to understand how C++ works instead. Just a friendly piece of advice.More than friendly advice, it is mandatory that the C++ language is learned correctly, independent of Java.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[Paul McKenzie]

I have written a good deal of code in java and now must port a program to C++.
If I have a method that returns an object in java equivalently I will return a pointer in c++?

No, not necessarily.

But in general, it is not a good idea to translate from any language to C++ "line-by-line" -- it doesn't work that way. You must actually sit down and learn the language, and then accomplish what you want to do in terms of the C++ language, not in terms of Java, Cobol, Fortran, Basic, or any other language you may have used before.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[cilu]

If I have a method that returns an object in java equivalently I will return a pointer in c++?
//C++
treeNode* getNode(){
return *rootNode;
}


You can do this as well:

treeNode getNode(){
return rootNode;
}

But in this case treeNode must have an overloaded = operator:

class treeNode
{
treeNode(); // default cst
treeNode(const treeNode& node){
// copy node into this
}
const treeNode& operator=(const treeNode& rval){
// copy rval into this
return *this;
}
};

However, returning a pointer or a reference is faster than returning an object, because no copy of objects is involved.

[Andreas Masur]

But in this case treeNode must have an overloaded = operator:
Well...actually you only need to supply an overloaded assignment operator, if the class deals with dynamically allocated memory...otherwise simply use the default one provided by the C++ implementation.

Furthermore, one should always define all three constructors/operators in case of dynamically allocated memory...

[wien]

mm rootNode is a non-static variable in an instance of treeNode. I guess a better name for the example would be leftNode as in a linked list binary tree.I meant, what type is rootNode? Is it a treeNode, treeNode*, treeNode**, foo*, what?

Again, if you show us more code, we can help you out a lot better by suggesting solutions to things you might be doing wrong.

[Kevin McFarlane]

No, not necessarily.

But in general, it is not a good idea to translate from any language to C++ "line-by-line" -- it doesn't work that way. You must actually sit down and learn the language, and then accomplish what you want to do in terms of the C++ language, not in terms of Java, Cobol, Fortran, Basic, or any other language you may have used before.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

Same applies when translating from C++ to any other language. You need to learn the idioms of the other language. Though, typically, going from these other languages to C++ is the more difficult transition.

[hexaplus]

sorry more code it is:


/** ALP.h
*
*/
class ALP
{
public:

treeNode * root;//first node in tree
treeNode * mom;//temp var for roundUmUp method
treeNode * curNode;//holds current tree position i
treeNode * garbage;//temp variable that holds cur
string ansQuest;//the yes or no answer to distingQ
string distingQ;//holds a quesiton
string ansAnimal;//the animal the user chose that was not in the tree
string guessedAnimal;//animal that curNodes returns from getAnimal method
bool notDone; //variable that is responsible for exiting startdown loop
bool cameFrom;// which child curnode


int main()
{
}
string talk()//performs input from keyboard
{
}

private:

string play;//the y/n/q var
int state; //holds int that is returned by treeNode.askQuest
string userGarbage;//trash var for i/0

/**
*Traverses tree starting at staic location root
*
*
* @param none
* @return void
*/
void startDown()
{
}

/**
* Modifies tree so that:
* curNode is replaced by new non leaf node, garbage.
* curNode is made a child of the new leaf node.
* another child(leaf) is created from users response.
*
* @param none
* @return void
*/
void roundUmUp()
{
}
//--------------------//


/**
Creates abstract data types, treeNodes has all necessary methods to modify tree
*
* @version Version 1.0
*/
class treeNode
{
public:
/**
* An empty constructor for all question nodes
*
* @param none
* @return treeNode
*/
treeNode ()
{

}
/**
* A constructor for all end nodes, that adds an end flag on creation.
*
* @param int
* @return treeNode
*/
treeNode (int blah)
{
}
/**
* Returns the left child of this.treeNode.
*
* @param none
* @return treeNode
*/
treeNode getLeft()
{
}
/**
* Method used to ask the nodes resident question.
* Returns an int under the following convention:
* 0 The answer to question was yes and the node is not at the end of the tree.
* 1 The answer to question was no and the node is not at the end of the tree.
* 2 The answer to question was yes and the node is a leaf.
* >=3 The answer was no and the node it s leaf.
* @param none
* @return int
*/
int askQuest()
{
}
/**
* returns the qeustion of this.treeNode for debuging purposes
*
* @param none
* @return String
*/
string getQuest(){
}
/**
* Sets this.treeNode's question to the parameter string.
*
* @param String
* @return void
*/
public void setQuest(String q)
{
}
/**
* Sets this.treeNode's left child to the parameter.
*
* @param treeNode
* @return treeNode
*/
treeNode setLeft( treeNode leftVal )
{
}
/**
* Returns this.treeNode's right child.
*
* @param none
* @return treeNode
*/
public treeNode getRight( )
{
}
/**
* Sets this.treeNode's right child to parameter.
*
* @param treeNode
* @return treeNode
*/
treeNode setRight( treeNode rightVal )
{
}
/**
* Returns this.treeNode's anima, if no animal is present returns to spaces.
*
* @param none
* @return String
*/
string getAnimal( )//returns ansAnimal
{
}

string setAnimal(string ani)// non static modifyer method
{
}
private:
treeNode left; // Reference to the left child
treeNode right; // Reference to the right child
boolean end;// variable that denotes if node is leaf
string quest;// question set by setQuest
string animal;// animal set by setAnimal method auto sets quest var
string ans;// temp var for answer

} // interface treeNode

[wien]

Heh.. Complete with JavaDoc and everything. :)

First off. When posting code in the forums, use the code tags. The code is close to impossible to read now.

Secondly. This code doesn't even begin to compile. I don't even know were to begin commenting on it. :confused: It looks very much like you have simply moved your code over from Java, and made changes from there. That is not the way to go... really...

I suggest you find some nice C++ tutorials on the web, and start out programming a few "Hello World"ish programs to get a feel for how C++ works, and work your way up from there. Since you say you have written a lot of code in Java, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting the hang of it fairly quickly.