Why do we use this-> inside constructor of C++ and not this.(DOT)

Question

    Rectangle::Rectangle(Rectangle &r)
{
 this.length=r.length;
 this.breadth=r.breadth;
}

I used this. instead of this-> and it gives error

[Error] request for member 'breadth' in '(Rectangle*)this', which is of pointer type 'Rectangle*' (maybe you meant to use '->' ?)

So does this mean class are sort of like Pointers? or I might be lacking some concepts so please help me to understand.

`this` in c++ in a pointer. And `->` is the way to access members of objects ponited by the pointer. — wohlstad, Aug 15 '22 at 05:31
Because in order to write `this.` and have it work, `this` would have to be a reference; and the `this` feature was added to the language before references were. — Karl Knechtel, Aug 15 '22 at 05:37
"So does this mean class are sort of like Pointers?" It means that `this` **is** a pointer, which *points to the instance of* the class you're working with in that member function. Classes and pointers are completely different and unrelated things. — Karl Knechtel, Aug 15 '22 at 05:38

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 15 '22 at 05:33

According to docs:

The expression this is an rvalue (until C++11)a prvalue (since C++11) expression whose value is the address of the implicit object parameter

So, this here is a pointer that point to the address that store value of the instance of class Rectangle.

1 Answers1