Constructors

As briefly explained in Classes, a class can contain a constructor. A constructor is a special method that is called automatically by the new operator when an instance of the class is created. The task of the constructor is to initialize the fields of the just created object.

The constructor has the form of a method without a return type, and its name must be equal to the name of the class. Optionally, the constructor can have one or more arguments, which must be passed when creating an object of the class. This makes it possible to immediately initialize the object to the desired state.

class Test {
  func Test(int arg)
    x = arg
  endfunc
  int x
  int y
}

Before the constructor is called, all fields of the class are initialized to 0. You only need to initialize those fields that must have a different initial value.

Test t = new Test(3)
print(t.x)  ; Prints 3
print(t.y)  ; Prints 0

When using inheritance, the constructor of the derived class must have the same arguments as the ancestor class. (This is required because the constructor is also a virtual method.)

The constructor of the derived class can call the inherited constructor by using the name of the ancestor as a function. Calling the inherited constructor is almost always necessary because otherwise the ancestor will not be initialized correctly. Example:

class Derived(Test) {
  func Derived(int arg)
    Test(4)  ; Call the inherited constructor
    w = arg
  endfunc
  int w
}

Derived d = new Derived(7)
print(d.x)  ; Prints 4
print(d.w)  ; Prints 7

You can also call a constructor on an already constructed object, in which case it will execute as a normal function. This might be useful to reset the object.

Next: Static methods

See Also
Classes
Inheritance
Methods