Question

Sometimes I don’t want to provide a default constructor, nor do I want the compiler to provide a system default constructor for my class. In C++ 11 I can do thing like:

class MyClass 
{ 
  public: 
    MyClass() = delete; 
};

But currently my lecturer doesn’t allow me to do that in my assignment. The question is: prior to C++ 11, is there any way to tell the compiler to stop implicitly provide a default constructor?

Answer 1

I would say make it private.. something like

class MyClass
{
private:
    MyClass();
}

and no one(from outside the class itself or friend classes) will be able to call the default constructor. Also, then you’ll have three options for using the class: either to provide a parameterized constructor or use it as a utility class (one with static functions only) or to create a factory for this type in a friend class.