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c++explicit-constructor

What's the difference between explicit and implicit assignment in C++

int value = 5; // this type of assignment is called an explicit assignment
int value(5); // this type of assignment is called an implicit assignment

What is the difference between those, if any, and in what cases do explicit and implicit assignment differ and how?

http://weblogs.asp.net/kennykerr/archive/2004/08/31/Explicit-Constructors.aspx

EDIT: I actually just found this article, which makes the whole thing a lot clearer... and it brings up another question, should you (in general) mark constructors taking a single parameter of a primitive type - numeric/bool/string - as explicit and leave the rest as they are (of course keeping watch for gotchas such as constructors like (int, SomeType = SomeType())?

Solution

  • They differ if a class has a constructor marked 'explicit'. Then, one of these does not work.

    Otherwise, no difference.