The copy constructor and assignment operator

Question

If I override operator= will the copy constructor automatically use the new operator? Similarly, if I define a copy constructor, will operator= automatically 'inherit' the behavior from the copy constructor?

Answer 1

No, they are different operators.

The copy constructor is for creating a new object. It copies a existing object to a newly constructed object.The copy constructor is used to initialize a new instance from an old instance. It is not necessarily called when passing variables by value into functions or as return values out of functions.

The assignment operator is to deal with an already existing object. The assignment operator is used to change an existing instance to have the same values as the rvalue, which means that the instance has to be destroyed and re-initialized if it has internal dynamic memory.

Useful link :

• Copy Constructors, Assignment Operators, and More
• Copy constructor and = operator overload in C++: is a common function possible?