Object oriented design suggestion

Question

Here is my code:

class Soldier {
public:
   Soldier(const string &name, const Gun &gun);
   string getName();
private:
   Gun gun;
   string name;
};

cl         


        

Answer 1

Encapsulate the functions to provide a consistent UI even if you later change the logic. Naming conventions are up to you, but I normally don't use "getFoo()", but just "foo()" as accessors and "setFoo()" as setters.

• return reference-to-const when you can (Effective C++ Item #3).
• Prefer consts, enums, and inlines to using hard coded numbers (Item #4)
• provide unique naming conventions for your private members to distinguish them from arguments
• Use unsigned values where they make sense to move errors to compile time
• When const values, like maximums, apply to an entire class. Make them static.
• If you plan to inherit, make sure your destructors are virtual
• initialize all members to sane defaults

This is how the classes look after that. CodePad

#include 
#include 
#include 

using namespace std;

class Gun 
{
public:
   Gun() : _bullets(0) {}
   virtual ~Gun() {}
   void fire() {cout << "bang bang" << endl; _bullets--;}
   void load(const uint16_t bullets) {_bullets = bullets;}
   const int bullets() const {return _bullets;}

   static const uint16_t MAX_BULLETS = 17;

protected:
   int _bullets;
 };

class Soldier 
{
public:
   Soldier(const string &name, const Gun &gun) : _name(name), _gun(gun) {}
   virtual ~Soldier() {}
   const string& name() const;
   Gun& gun() {return _gun;}

protected:
   string _name;
   Gun _gun;
};


int main (int argc, char const *argv[])
{
   Gun gun; // initialize
   string name("Foo");
   Soldier soldier(name, gun);

   soldier.gun().load(Gun::MAX_BULLETS);

   for(size_t i = 0; i < Gun::MAX_BULLETS; ++i)
   {
     soldier.gun().fire();
     cout << "I have " << soldier.gun().bullets() << " left!" << endl;
   }
  return 0;
}