Question

Is it possible to “add” to the default copy constructor?

Eg. For this class:

class A
{
    public:
        int a;
        int* b;
};

I want to just write

A::A(const A& rvalue):
    a(rvalue.a),
    b(new int(*(rvalue.b)))
{}

without the a(rvalue.a) part.

(Ignore the bad/ugly code and possible memory leaks)

Answer 1

What you ask for is impossible. Once you declare your own copy constructor the compiler will not generate a copy constructor for you. That means you won’t be able to simply add or augment the default copy constructor because it won’t exist. It’s all or nothing, so to speak.