1. What is a modifier?

Answer:
A modifier, also called a modifying function is a member function that
changes the value of at least one data member. In other words, an operation that
modifies the state of an object. Modifiers are also known as ‘mutators’.

2. What is an accessor?
Answer:
An accessor is a class operation that does not modify the state of an object.
The accessor functions need to be declared as const operations

3. Differentiate between a template class and class template.

Answer:
Template class:
A generic definition or a parameterized class not instantiated until the
client provides the needed information. It’s jargon for plain templates.
Class template:
A class template specifies how individual classes can be constructed much
like the way a class specifies how individual objects can be constructed. It’s
jargon for plain classes.

4. When does a name clash occur?

Answer:
A name clash occurs when a name is defined in more than one place. For
example., two different class libraries could give two different classes the same
name. If you try to use many class libraries at the same time, there is a fair chance
that you will be unable to compile or link the program because of name clashes.

5. Define namespace.
Answer:
It is a feature in c++ to minimize name collisions in the global name space.
This namespace keyword assigns a distinct name to a library that allows other
libraries to use the same identifier names without creating any name collisions.
Furthermore, the compiler uses the namespace signature for differentiating the
definitions.
6. What is the use of ‘using’ declaration.
Answer:
A using declaration makes it possible to use a name from a namespace
without the scope operator.

7. What is an Iterator class?

Answer:
A class that is used to traverse through the objects maintained by a
container class. There are five categories of iterators:
Ø input iterators,
Ø output iterators,
Ø forward iterators,
Ø bidirectional iterators,
Ø random access.
An iterator is an entity that gives access to the contents of a container
object without violating encapsulation constraints. Access to the contents is
granted on a one-at-a-time basis in order. The order can be storage order (as in
lists and queues) or some arbitrary order (as in array indices) or according to
some ordering relation (as in an ordered binary tree). The iterator is a construct,
which provides an interface that, when called, yields either the next element in
the container, or some value denoting the fact that there are no more elements to
examine. Iterators hide the details of access to and update of the elements of a
container class.
The simplest and safest iterators are those that permit read-only access to
the contents of a container class. The following code fragment shows how an
iterator might appear in code:
cont_iter:=new cont_iterator();
x:=cont_iter.next();
while x/=none do
...
s(x);
...
x:=cont_iter.next();
end;

In this example, cont_iter is the name of the iterator. It is created on the first
line by instantiation of cont_iterator class, an iterator class defined to iterate over
some container class, cont. Succesive elements from the container are carried to x.
The loop terminates when x is bound to some empty value. (Here, none)In the
middle of the loop, there is s(x) an operation on x, the current element from the
container. The next element of the container is obtained at the bottom of the loop.
9. List out some of the OODBMS available.
Answer:
Ø GEMSTONE/OPAL of Gemstone systems.
Ø ONTOS of Ontos.
Ø Objectivity of Objectivity inc.
Ø Versant of Versant object technology.
Ø Object store of Object Design.
Ø ARDENT of ARDENT software.
Ø POET of POET software.

10. List out some of the object-oriented methodologies.

Answer:
Ø Object Oriented Development (OOD) (Booch 1991,1994).
Ø Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOA/D) (Coad and Yourdon 1991).
Ø Object Modelling Techniques (OMT) (Rumbaugh 1991).
Ø Object Oriented Software Engineering (Objectory) (Jacobson 1992).
Ø Object Oriented Analysis (OOA) (Shlaer and Mellor 1992).
Ø The Fusion Method (Coleman 1991).

11. What is an incomplete type?

Answer:
Incomplete types refers to pointers in which there is non availability of the
implementation of the referenced location or it points to some location whose
value is not available for modification.
Example:
int *i=0x400 // i points to address 400
*i=0; //set the value of memory location pointed by i.
Incomplete types are otherwise called uninitialized pointers.

12. What is a dangling pointer?

Answer:
A dangling pointer arises when you use the address of an object after its
lifetime is over.
This may occur in situations like returning addresses of the automatic variables
from a function or using the address of the memory block after it is freed.
13. Differentiate between the message and method.
Answer:
Message Method
Objects communicate by sending messages Provides response to a message.
to each other.
A message is sent to invoke a method. It is an implementation of an
operation.

14. What is an adaptor class or Wrapper class?

Answer:
A class that has no functionality of its own. Its member functions hide the
use of a third party software component or an object with the non-compatible
interface or a non- object- oriented implementation.

15. What is a Null object?

Answer:
It is an object of some class whose purpose is to indicate that a real object
of that class does not exist. One common use for a null object is a return value
from a member function that is supposed to return an object with some specified
properties but cannot find such an object.

16. What is class invariant?

Answer:
A class invariant is a condition that defines all valid states for an object. It
is a logical condition to ensure the correct working of a class. Class invariants
must hold when an object is created, and they must be preserved under all
operations of the class. In particular all class invariants are both preconditions
and post-conditions for all operations or member functions of the class.

17. What do you mean by Stack unwinding?

Answer:
It is a process during exception handling when the destructor is called for
all local objects between the place where the exception was thrown and where it
is caught.
18. Define precondition and post-condition to a member function.
Answer:
Precondition:
A precondition is a condition that must be true on entry to a member
function. A class is used correctly if preconditions are never false. An operation
is not responsible for doing anything sensible if its precondition fails to hold.
For example, the interface invariants of stack class say nothing about
pushing yet another element on a stack that is already full. We say that isful() is a
precondition of the push operation.

Post-condition:
A post-condition is a condition that must be true on exit from a member
function if the precondition was valid on entry to that function. A class is
implemented correctly if post-conditions are never false.
For example, after pushing an element on the stack, we know that
isempty() must necessarily hold. This is a post-condition of the push operation.

19. What are the conditions that have to be met for a condition to be an

invariant of the class?

Answer:
Ø The condition should hold at the end of every constructor.
Ø The condition should hold at the end of every mutator(non-const) operation.

20. What are proxy objects?

Answer:
Objects that stand for other objects are called proxy objects or surrogates.
Example:
template<class T>
class Array2D
{
public:
class Array1D
{
public:
T& operator[] (int index);
const T& operator[] (int index) const;
...
};
 Array1D operator[] (int index);
const Array1D operator[] (int index) const;
...
};

The following then becomes legal:

Array2D<float>data(10,20);
........
cout<<data[3][6]; // fine

Here data[3] yields an Array1D object and the operator [] invocation on

that object yields the float in position(3,6) of the original two dimensional array.
Clients of the Array2D class need not be aware of the presence of the Array1D
class. Objects of this latter class stand for one-dimensional array objects that,
conceptually, do not exist for clients of Array2D. Such clients program as if they
were using real, live, two-dimensional arrays. Each Array1D object stands for a
one-dimensional array that is absent from a conceptual model used by the clients
of Array2D. In the above example, Array1D is a proxy class. Its instances stand
for one-dimensional arrays that, conceptually, do not exist.

21. Name some pure object oriented languages.

Answer:
Ø Smalltalk,
Ø Java,
Ø Eiffel,
Ø Sather.

22. Name the operators that cannot be overloaded.

Answer:
sizeof . .* .-> :: ?:

23. What is a node class?

Answer:
A node class is a class that,
Ø relies on the base class for services and implementation,
Ø provides a wider interface to te users than its base class,
Ø relies primarily on virtual functions in its public interface
Ø depends on all its direct and indirect base class
Ø can be understood only in the context of the base class
Ø can be used as base for further derivation
Ø can be used to create objects.
A node class is a class that has added new services or functionality beyond the
services inherited from its base class.

24. What is an orthogonal base class?

Answer:
If two base classes have no overlapping methods or data they are said to

be independent of, or orthogonal to each other. Orthogonal in the sense means

that two classes operate in different dimensions and do not interfere with each

other in any way. The same derived class may inherit such classes with no

difficulty.

25. What is a container class? What are the types of container classes?
Answer:
A container class is a class that is used to hold objects in memory or
external storage. A container class acts as a generic holder. A container class has
a predefined behavior and a well-known interface. A container class is a
supporting class whose purpose is to hide the topology used for maintaining the
list of objects in memory. When a container class contains a group of mixed
objects, the container is called a heterogeneous container; when the container is
holding a group of objects that are all the same, the container is called a
homogeneous container.

26. What is a protocol class?

Answer:
An abstract class is a protocol class if:
Ø it neither contains nor inherits from classes that contain member data,
non-virtual functions, or private (or protected) members of any kind.
Ø it has a non-inline virtual destructor defined with an empty
implementation,
Ø all member functions other than the destructor including inherited
functions, are declared pure virtual functions and left undefined.
27. What is a mixin class?
Answer:
A class that provides some but not all of the implementation for a virtual
base class is often called mixin. Derivation done just for the purpose of
redefining the virtual functions in the base classes is often called mixin
inheritance. Mixin classes typically don't share common bases.

28. What is a concrete class?

Answer:
A concrete class is used to define a useful object that can be instantiated as
an automatic variable on the program stack. The implementation of a concrete
class is defined. The concrete class is not intended to be a base class and no
attempt to minimize dependency on other classes in the implementation or
behavior of the class.

29.What is the handle class?

Answer:
A handle is a class that maintains a pointer to an object that is
programmatically accessible through the public interface of the handle class.
Explanation:
In case of abstract classes, unless one manipulates the objects of these
classes through pointers and references, the benefits of the virtual functions are
lost. User code may become dependent on details of implementation classes
because an abstract type cannot be allocated statistically or on the stack without
its size being known. Using pointers or references implies that the burden of
memory management falls on the user. Another limitation of abstract class object
is of fixed size. Classes however are used to represent concepts that require
varying amounts of storage to implement them.
A popular technique for dealing with these issues is to separate what is used as a
single object in two parts: a handle providing the user interface and a
representation holding all or most of the object's state. The connection between
the handle and the representation is typically a pointer in the handle. Often,
handles have a bit more data than the simple representation pointer, but not
much more. Hence the layout of the handle is typically stable, even when the
representation changes and also that handles are small enough to move around
relatively freely so that the user needn’t use the pointers and the references.
 30. What is an action class?
Answer:
The simplest and most obvious way to specify an action in C++ is to write
a function. However, if the action has to be delayed, has to be transmitted
'elsewhere' before being performed, requires its own data, has to be combined
with other actions, etc then it often becomes attractive to provide the action in the
form of a class that can execute the desired action and provide other services as
well. Manipulators used with iostreams is an obvious example.
Explanation:
A common form of action class is a simple class containing just one virtual

function.

class Action
{
public:
virtual int do_it( int )=0;
virtual ~Action( );
}
Given this, we can write code say a member that can store actions for later

execution without using pointers to functions, without knowing anything about

the objects involved, and without even knowing the name of the operation it

invokes. For example:

class write_file : public Action

{
File& f;
public:
int do_it(int)
{
return fwrite( ).suceed( );
}
};
class error_message: public Action
{
response_box db(message.cstr( ),"Continue","Cancel","Retry");
switch (db.getresponse( ))
{
case 0: return 0;
 case 1: abort();
case 2: current_operation.redo( );return 1;
}
};

A user of the Action class will be completely isolated from any knowledge of

derived classes such as write_file and error_message.

31. When can you tell that a memory leak will occur?
Answer:
A memory leak occurs when a program loses the ability to free a block of
dynamically allocated memory.

32.What is a parameterized type?

Answer:
A template is a parameterized construct or type containing generic code
that can use or manipulate any type. It is called parameterized because an actual
type is a parameter of the code body. Polymorphism may be achieved through
parameterized types. This type of polymorphism is called parameteric
polymorphism. Parameteric polymorphism is the mechanism by which the same
code is used on different types passed as parameters.

33. Differentiate between a deep copy and a shallow copy?

Answer:
Deep copy involves using the contents of one object to create another
instance of the same class. In a deep copy, the two objects may contain ht same
information but the target object will have its own buffers and resources. the
destruction of either object will not affect the remaining object. The overloaded
assignment operator would create a deep copy of objects.
Shallow copy involves copying the contents of one object into another
instance of the same class thus creating a mirror image. Owing to straight
copying of references and pointers, the two objects will share the same externally
contained contents of the other object to be unpredictable.
Explanation:
Using a copy constructor we simply copy the data values member by
member. This method of copying is called shallow copy. If the object is a simple
class, comprised of built in types and no pointers this would be acceptable. This
function would use the values and the objects and its behavior would not be
altered with a shallow copy, only the addresses of pointers that are members are
copied and not the value the address is pointing to. The data values of the object
would then be inadvertently altered by the function. When the function goes out
of scope, the copy of the object with all its data is popped off the stack.
If the object has any pointers a deep copy needs to be executed. With the
deep copy of an object, memory is allocated for the object in free store and the
elements pointed to are copied. A deep copy is used for objects that are returned
from a function.

34. What is an opaque pointer?

Answer:
A pointer is said to be opaque if the definition of the type to which it
points to is not included in the current translation unit. A translation unit is the
result of merging an implementation file with all its headers and header files.

35. What is a smart pointer?

Answer:
A smart pointer is an object that acts, looks and feels like a normal pointer
but offers more functionality. In C++, smart pointers are implemented as template
classes that encapsulate a pointer and override standard pointer operators. They
have a number of advantages over regular pointers. They are guaranteed to be
initialized as either null pointers or pointers to a heap object. Indirection through
a null pointer is checked. No delete is ever necessary. Objects are automatically
freed when the last pointer to them has gone away. One significant problem with
these smart pointers is that unlike regular pointers, they don't respect
inheritance. Smart pointers are unattractive for polymorphic code. Given below
is an example for the implementation of smart pointers.
Example:
template <class X>
class smart_pointer
{
public:
smart_pointer(); // makes a null pointer
smart_pointer(const X& x) // makes pointer to copy of x

X& operator *( );
const X& operator*( ) const;
X* operator->() const;

smart_pointer(const smart_pointer <X> &);

const smart_pointer <X> & operator =(const smart_pointer<X>&);
~smart_pointer();
 private:
//...
};
This class implement a smart pointer to an object of type X. The object
itself is located on the heap. Here is how to use it:
smart_pointer <employee> p= employee("Harris",1333);
Like other overloaded operators, p will behave like a regular pointer,
cout<<*p;
p->raise_salary(0.5);

36. What is reflexive association?

Answer:
The 'is-a' is called a reflexive association because the reflexive association
permits classes to bear the is-a association not only with their super-classes but
also with themselves. It differs from a 'specializes-from' as 'specializes-from' is
usually used to describe the association between a super-class and a sub-class.
For example:
Printer is-a printer.

37. What is slicing?

Answer:
Slicing means that the data added by a subclass are discarded when an
object of the subclass is passed or returned by value or from a function expecting
a base class object.
Explanation:
Consider the following class declaration:
class base
{
...
base& operator =(const base&);
base (const base&);
}
void fun( )
{
base e=m;
e=m;
}
As base copy functions don't know anything about the derived only the
base part of the derived is copied. This is commonly referred to as slicing. One
reason to pass objects of classes in a hierarchy is to avoid slicing. Other reasons
are to preserve polymorphic behavior and to gain efficiency.
38. What is name mangling?
Answer:
Name mangling is the process through which your c++ compilers give each

function in your program a unique name. In C++, all programs have at-least a

few functions with the same name. Name mangling is a concession to the fact

that linker always insists on all function names being unique.

Example:
In general, member names are made unique by concatenating the name of
the member with that of the class e.g. given the declaration:
class Bar
{
public:
int ival;
...
};
ival becomes something like:
// a possible member name mangling
ival__3Bar
Consider this derivation:
class Foo : public Bar
{
public:
int ival;
...
}
The internal representation of a Foo object is the concatenation of its base and

derived class members.

// Pseudo C++ code

// Internal representation of Foo
class Foo
{
public:
int ival__3Bar;
int ival__3Foo;
...
};
 Unambiguous access of either ival members is achieved through name

mangling. Member functions, because they can be overloaded, require an

extensive mangling to provide each with a unique name. Here the compiler

generates the same name for the two overloaded instances(Their argument

lists make their instances unique).

39. What are proxy objects?

Answer:
Objects that points to other objects are called proxy objects or surrogates.
Its an object that provides the same interface as its server object but does not
have any functionality. During a method invocation, it routes data to the true
server object and sends back the return value to the object.

40. Differentiate between declaration and definition in C++.

Answer:
A declaration introduces a name into the program; a definition provides a

unique description of an entity (e.g. type, instance, and function).

Declarations can be repeated in a given scope, it introduces a name in a given

scope. There must be exactly one definition of every object, function or class

used in a C++ program.

A declaration is a definition unless:

Ø it declares a function without specifying its body,
Ø it contains an extern specifier and no initializer or function body,
Ø it is the declaration of a static class data member without a class
definition,
Ø it is a class name definition,
Ø it is a typedef declaration.
A definition is a declaration unless:

Ø it defines a static class data member,

Ø it defines a non-inline member function.
41. What is cloning?
Answer:
An object can carry out copying in two ways i.e. it can set itself to be a

copy of another object, or it can return a copy of itself. The latter process is called

cloning.

42. Describe the main characteristics of static functions.

Answer:
The main characteristics of static functions include,
Ø It is without the a this pointer,
Ø It can't directly access the non-static members of its class
Ø It can't be declared const, volatile or virtual.
Ø It doesn't need to be invoked through an object of its class, although
for convenience, it may.

43. Will the inline function be compiled as the inline function always? Justify.
Answer:
An inline function is a request and not a command. Hence it won't be
compiled as an inline function always.
Explanation:
Inline-expansion could fail if the inline function contains loops, the
address of an inline function is used, or an inline function is called in a complex
expression. The rules for inlining are compiler dependent.

44. Define a way other than using the keyword inline to make a function
inline.
Answer:
The function must be defined inside the class.

45. How can a '::' operator be used as unary operator?

Answer:
The scope operator can be used to refer to members of the global
namespace. Because the global namespace doesn’t have a name, the notation ::
member-name refers to a member of the global namespace. This can be useful for
referring to members of global namespace whose names have been hidden by
names declared in nested local scope. Unless we specify to the compiler in which
namespace to search for a declaration, the compiler simple searches the current
scope, and any scopes in which the current scope is nested, to find the
declaration for the name.

46. What is placement new?

Answer:
When you want to call a constructor directly, you use the placement new.

Sometimes you have some raw memory that's already been allocated, and you

need to construct an object in the memory you have. Operator new's special

version placement new allows you to do it.

class Widget
{
public :
Widget(int widgetsize);
...
Widget* Construct_widget_int_buffer(void *buffer,int widgetsize)
{
return new(buffer) Widget(widgetsize);
}
};
This function returns a pointer to a Widget object that's constructed within

the buffer passed to the function. Such a function might be useful for

applications using shared memory or memory-mapped I/O, because objects in

such applications must be placed at specific addresses or in memory allocated by

special routines.