Why does this call the default constructor?

Question

struct X
{
    X()    { std::cout << \"X()\\n\";    }
    X(int) { std::cout << \"X(int)\\n\"; }
};

const int answer = 42;

int main()
{
    X(answer);
         


        

Answer 1

The parentheses are optional. What you said is identical to X answer;, and it's a declaration statement.

Answer 2

nothing at all, because X(answer); could be interpreted as the declaration of a variable.

Your answer is hidden in here. If you declare a variable, you invoke its default ctor (if non-POD and all that stuff).

On your edit: To get a temporary, you have a few options:

• (X(answer));
• (X)answer;
• static_cast<X>(answer)
• X{answer}; (C++11)
• []{ return X(answer); }(); (C++11, may incur copy)
• void(), X(answer);
• X((void(),answer));
• true ? X(answer) : X();
• if(X(answer), false){}
• for(;X(answer), false;);
• X(+answer);

Answer 3

If you want to declare a variable of the type X, you should do it this way:

X y(answer);