What is a function object?

Name: Problem 17, Chapter 17: Starting out with C++: From Control Structures through Objects
Uploaded: 2020-04-28T18:44:22-08:00
Duration: 7 s
Channel: Amy Jiang
Description: What is a function object?

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Key Concepts

Callable Entities

Callable entities refer to any constructs in a programming language that can be invoked using function call syntax. This category includes traditional functions, lambda expressions, and function objects. Understanding callables is essential for comprehending how functions can be treated as first-class citizens in many modern programming languages.

Operator Overloading

Operator overloading is a feature in many programming languages that allows developers to redefine the manner in which operators work with objects. By overloading the function call operator (commonly represented as operator()), a class lets its instances be called as if they were functions, thus creating function objects.

Function Object

A function object, or functor, is an instance of a class that overloads the function call operator. This design allows the object to be used as if it were a regular function, enabling more flexible and reusable code patterns that can maintain internal state or configuration between calls.

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