With or without 'this' in POO attribute class

Question

I wonder if there is some reason or not to use this in a attribute class?

class Foo
{
    private:
        int m_foo;

    public:
        int getIntance() { return this->m_foo; }
}

Other than the fact its say that this is the current class, are there others reasons?

you are returning an int but your return type is Foo. How is that possible? Moreover to the question, it does not make any difference if you left that this. Because, it is implicit. — Saran-san, Jul 29 '13 at 05:53

BЈовић · Answer 1 · 2013-07-29T06:01:18.927

1

No, do not use it. In that particular case, it is not needed, and this is less typing :

int getIntance() { return m_foo; }

Less you write is better. Even for people reading you code (they'll have less to read)

edited Jul 29 '13 at 06:01

answered Jul 29 '13 at 05:52

BЈовић

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`m_foo` is an `int` but the method returns a `Foo` – Luiggi Mendoza Jul 29 '13 at 05:55
@LuiggiMendoza Yes, the question is weird. I agree – BЈовић Jul 29 '13 at 05:56
Woops , the method return an int ! sorry ! – Jul 29 '13 at 06:00

Pierre Fourgeaud · Answer 2 · 2013-07-29T09:37:10.887

1

this is less typing. It is not mandatory in this particular case. There is no reason to use this keyword unless if you want to pass the current instance of your object to a function for example.

You can simply write :

int getIntance() { return m_foo; }

It is weird to call a method getInstance to return an int. It is quite uncommon...

edited Jul 29 '13 at 09:37

answered Jul 29 '13 at 05:55

Pierre Fourgeaud

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 29 '13 at 06:05

There's no reason to use this, except when, for example, you want something outside the class to point to your instance (let's say, you add your instance - this - to a list of pointers).

In your example, this is redundant, since m_foo could easily have been returned by return m_foo; without any problem.

However, this can only be used in non-static member functions, or else it won't compile.

With or without 'this' in POO attribute class

3 Answers3