Is it a considered a recursive function if I have an overloaded function that calls one of its other instances?

Question

This is hypothetical, but I have a class with two, overloaded constructors - none of which are the default constructors. If I were to call one constructor from the other, would it be recursive? Example:

class Example
{
     Example(const int integer)
     {
          //Constructor Code Here
     }

     Example(argument)
     {
          Example object(68);
          //Rest of constructor code
     }
};

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A function/method is recursive if it calls itself... it sounds like in your example, the copy constructor calls the other constructor, but no constructor calls itself. So from your description, the answer would seem to be no. — Jeremy Friesner, Jun 27 '17 at 04:01
Yes, I thought about including that, but I thought it would only serve to confuse the issue :) — Jeremy Friesner, Jun 27 '17 at 04:18

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 27 '17 at 04:51

No

Recursion is when a function calls itself, not an overloaded function of the same name with different parameters. What you are describing is not recursion at all. It is delegating constructors, a new feature introduced in C++11. And by definition: "Delegating constructors cannot be recursive".

Is it a considered a recursive function if I have an overloaded function that calls one of its other instances?

1 Answers1

No