Move constructors

 

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A move constructor of class T is a non-template constructor whose first parameter is T&&, const T&&, volatile T&&, or const volatile T&&, and either there are no other parameters, or the rest of the parameters all have default values. A type with a public move constructor is MoveConstructible.

Syntax

class_name ( class_name && )	(1)	(since C++11)
class_name ( class_name && ) = default;	(2)	(since C++11)
class_name ( class_name && ) = delete;	(3)	(since C++11)

Explanation

1. Typical declaration of a move constructor
2. Forcing a move constructor to be generated by the compiler
3. Avoiding implicit move constructor

The move constructor is called whenever an object is initialized from xvalue of the same type, which includes

• initialization, T a = std::move(b); or T a(std::move(b));, where b is of type T
• function argument passing: f(std::move(a));, where a is of type T and f is void f(T t)
• function return: return a; inside a function such as T f(), where a is of type T which has a move constructor.

Move constructors typically "steal" the resources held by the argument (e.g. pointers to dynamically-allocated objects, file descriptors, TCP sockets, I/O streams, running threads, etc), rather than make copies of them, and leave the argument in some valid but otherwise indeterminate state. For example, moving from a std::string or from a std::vector turns the argument empty.

Implicitly-declared move constructor

If no user-defined move constructors are provided for a class type (struct, class, or union), and all of the following is true:

• there are no user-declared copy constructors
• there are no user-declared copy assignment operators
• there are no user-declared move assignment operators
• there are no user-declared destructurs
• the implicitly-declared move constructor would not be defined as deleted

then the compiler will declare a move constructor as an inline public member of its class with the signature T::T(T&&)

A class can have multiple move constructors, e.g. both T::T(const T&&) and T::T(T&&). If some user-defined move constructors are present, the user may still force the generation of the implicitly declared move constructor with the keyword default.

Deleted implicitly-declared move constructor

The implicitly-declared or defaulted move constructor for class T is defined as deleted in any of the following is true:

• T has non-static data members that cannot be moved (have deleted, inaccessible, or ambiguous move constructors)
• T has direct or virtual base class that cannot be moved (has deleted, inaccessible, or ambiguous move constructors)
• T has direct or virtual base class with a deleted or inaccessible destructor
• T has a user-defined move constructor or move assignment operator
• T is a union and has a variant member with non-trivial copy constructor
• T has a non-static data member or a direct or virtual base without a move constructor that is not trivially copyable.

Trivial move constructor

The implicitly-declared move constructor for class T is trivial if all of the following is true:

• T has no virtual member functions
• T has no virtual base classes
• The move constructor selected for every direct base of T is trivial
• The move constructor selected for every non-static class type (or array of class type) memeber of T is trivial

A trivial move constructor is a constructor that performs the same action as the trivial copy constructor, that is, makes a copy of the object representation as if by std::memmove. All data types compatible with the C language (POD types) are trivially movable.

Implicitly-defined move constructor

If the implicitly-declared move constructor is not deleted or trivial, it is defined (that is, a function body is generated and compiled) by the compiler. For union types, the implicitly-defined move constructor copies the object representation (as by std::memmove). For non-union class types (class and struct), the move constructor performs full member-wise move of the object's bases and non-static members, in their initialization order, using direct initialization with an xvalue argument.

Notes

To make strong exception guarantee possible, user-defined move constructors should not throw exceptions. In fact, standard containers typically rely on std::move_if_noexcept to choose between move and copy when container elements need to be relocated.

If both copy and move constructors are provided, overload resolution selects the move constructor if the argument is an rvalue (either prvalue such as a nameless temporary or xvalue such as the result of std::move), and selects the copy constructor if the argument is lvalue (named object or a function/operator returning lvalue reference). If only the copy constructor is provided, all argument categories select it (as long as it takes reference to const, since rvalues can bind to const references), which makes copying the fallback for moving, when moving is unavailable.

Example

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
 
struct A {
    std::string s;
    A() : s("test") {}
    A(const A& o) : s(o.s) { std::cout << "move failed!\n";}
    A(A&& o) : s(std::move(o.s)) {}
};
 
A f(A a) {
    return a;
}
 
struct B : A {
     std::string s2; 
     int n;
     // implicit move-contructor B::(B&&)
     // calls A's move constructor
     // calls s2's move constructor
     // and makes a bitwise copy of n
};
 
struct C : B {
    ~C() {}; // destructor prevents implicit move
};
 
struct D : B {
    D() {}
    ~D() {}; // destructor would prevent implicit move
    D(D&&) = default; // force a move ctor anyway
};
 
int main()
{
    std::cout << "Trying to move A\n";
    A a1 = f(A()); // move-construct from rvalue temporary
    A a2 = std::move(a1); // move-construct from xvalue
 
    std::cout << "Trying to move B\n";
    B b1;
    std::cout << "Before move, b1.s = \"" << b1.s << "\"\n";
    B b2 = std::move(b1); // calls implicit move ctor
    std::cout << "After move, b1.s = \"" << b1.s << "\"\n";
 
    std::cout << "Trying to move C\n";
    C c1;
    C c2 = std::move(c1); // calls the copy constructor
 
    std::cout << "Trying to move D\n";
    D d1;
    D d2 = std::move(d1);
}

Output:

Trying to move A
Trying to move B
Before move, b1.s = "test"
After move, b1.s = ""
Trying to move C
move failed!
Trying to move D