Will pointers in a object created using deep copy point the objects in the original object

Question

Say i have this class:

class Entity
{
private:
    std::vector<Component*> _components;
public
    Entity(std::vector<Component*>);
};

And i do this:

Entity* entity= new Entity( { new Drawable(), new Transform() ... } );
Entity* clone = new Entity(*entity);

Will the objects that the pointers in _components point to get copied? Or are only the pointers getting copied to clone?

Only the pointers in `_components` will be copied. You should follow the rule of three (or five) for your class to manage the memory correctly, see: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4172722/what-is-the-rule-of-three — Richard Critten, Jul 23 '17 at 16:17
Pointers are getting copied, not objects pointed to. Write a custom copy constructor. — Jesper Juhl, Jul 23 '17 at 16:17
I feel you don't really know when to use pointers and when not to. do you come from a Java/C# background? — David Haim, Jul 23 '17 at 16:18
I am a student so i dont really have much of a background, the context that the components are used require them to be pointers, but i will review my design again. — ojoj kolol, Jul 23 '17 at 18:12

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 23 '17 at 16:19

1

Will the objects that the pointers in _components point to get copied?

No.

Or are only the pointers getting copied to clone?

Yes.

answered Jul 23 '17 at 16:19

user0042

1 Answers1