different types of objects in the same vector array?

Question

I am using an array in a simple logic simulator program and I want to switch to using a vector to learn it but the reference I am using \"OOP in C++ by Lafore\" doesn\'t hav

Answer 1

Also, the base class "Gate" should have a virtual destructor else there would be issues while cleaning up the vector and it's contents.

Answer 2

Yes, that will work - as long as you make run() a virtual function in gate and use the address of operator(&) on a and o as you put them in the vector.

Be careful about object lifetime issues though. If a and/or o go out of scope then your vector will contain pointers to invalid objects.

Answer 3

You're half-way there:

std::vector<gate*> G;
G.push_back(new ANDgate);
G.push_back(new ORgate);
for(unsigned i=0;i<G.size();++i)
{
    G[i]->Run();
}

Of course, this way you need to take care to ensure that your objects are deleted. I'd use a vector of a smart pointer type such as boost::shared_ptr to manage that for you. You could just store the address of local objects (e.g. G.push_back(&a)), but then you need to ensure that the pointers are not referenced after the local objects have been destroyed.

Answer 4

You are using

vector(gate*) G;

change to

vector<gate*> G;

and you should do this

G.push_back(new ANDgate());

or if you use boost use shared_ptrs as vector does quite a lot of copying and naked pointers in a vector can be fatal.