Is there a difference in the compiler between struct and class with public members and no constructor

Question

I'm looking at some legacy code that looks like it was converted over from C to C++ and there are various classes that have public member variables and nothing else:

class sampleClass
  public:
    int fd;
    customType clientHandle;
    customType serverHandle;
};

From my understanding struct = class with no functions and public members so is this virtually exactly the same as a struct for practical reasons?

What happens when the code is compiled. Is it compiled down to the exact same "stuff" or do they get compiled differently

Lack of research on the site strikes back. The most upvoted dupe [was to be found](http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=%5Bc%2B%2B%5Dstruct+class+difference) in about 20 seconds. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Dec 23 '14 at 17:06
I specifically asked about the compiler point of view. The other question relate to design point of view. Its is a different question. I want to know how the class and struct is decomposed during compilation. — Jeef, Dec 23 '14 at 20:34

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 23 '14 at 16:55

2

It is entirely the same, yes. The only two ways in which structs and classes differ are the default protection of members, and the default inheritance type of base classes.

answered Dec 23 '14 at 16:55

Sneftel

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '14 at 16:56

0

In C++ only the default accessing differs between struct (public) and class (private).

answered Dec 23 '14 at 16:56

Gabriel

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Pranit Kothari · Answer 3 · 2014-12-23T17:06:32.197

0

Difference in struct and class and that is by default members of struct are public, while by default members of class are private.

Even while inheriting from struct, default specifier is public, while for class its private.

You can see my video tutorial on this.

edited Dec 23 '14 at 17:06

answered Dec 23 '14 at 16:58

Pranit Kothari

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structs also inherit publicly by default while classes inherit privately – Ryan Haining Dec 23 '14 at 17:02
It is not very important, but that is not the only difference. The default inheritance type is also different. – Masked Man Dec 23 '14 at 17:02
I have yet to understand the idea of video tutorials. What advantage weights up for the bandwidth loss. Is it, that it's impossible to write up the same? – Cheers and hth. - Alf Dec 23 '14 at 17:05

Is there a difference in the compiler between struct and class with public members and no constructor

3 Answers3