C++ Structs with Member Functions vs. Classes with Public Variables

Question

This is really a question of good form/best practices. I use structs in C++ to form objects that are designed to basically hold data, rather than making a class with a ton o

Answer 1

In C++, the only difference between structs and classes are that structs are publicly visibly by default. A good guideline is to use structs as plain-old-data (POD) that only hold data and use classes for when more functionality (member functions) is required.

You may still be wondering whether to just have public variables in the class or use member functions; consider the following scenario.

Let's say you have a class A that has a function GetSomeVariable that is merely a getter for a private variable:

class A
{
    double _someVariable;

public:
    double GetSomeVariable() { return _someVariable; }
};

What if, twenty years down the line, the meaning of that variable changes, and you have to, let's say, multiply it by 0.5? When using a getter, it is simple; just return the variable multiplied by 0.5:

    double GetSomeVariable() { return 0.5*_someVariable; }

By doing this, you allow for easy maintainability and allow for easy modification.