Compile-time error that results when there is not a single best match for a call to an overloaded function.
arguments
Values supplied when calling a function. These values are used to initialize the corresponding parameters in the same way that variables of the same type are initialized.
automatic objects
Objects that are local to a function. Automatic objects are created and initialized anew on each call and are destroyed at the end of the block in which they are defined. They no longer exist once the function terminates.
best match
The single function from a set of overloaded functions that has the best match for the arguments of a given call.
call operator
The operator that causes a function to be executed. The operator is a pair of parentheses and takes two operands: The name of the function to call and a (possibly empty) comma-separated list of arguments to pass to the function.
candidate functions
The set of functions that are considered when resolving a function call. The candidate functions are all the functions with the name used in the call for which a declaration is in scope at the time of the call.
const member function
Function that is member of a class and that may be called for const objects of that type. const member functions may not change the data members of the object on which they operate.
constructor
Member function that has the same name as its class. A constructor says how to initialize objects of its class. Constructors have no return type. Constructors may be overloaded.
constructor initializer list
List used in a constructor to specify initial values for data members. The initializer list appears in the definition of a constructor between the parameter list and the constructor body. The list consists of a colon followed by a comma-separated list of member names, each of which is followed by that member's initial value in parentheses.
default constructor
The constructor that is used when no explicit initializer is supplied. The compiler will synthesize a default constructor if the class defines no other constructors.
function
A callable unit of computation.
function body
Block that defines the actions of a function.
function matching
Compiler process by which a call to an overloaded function is resolved. Arguments used in the call are compared to the parameter list of each overloaded function.
function prototype
Synonym for function declaration. The name, return type, and parameter types of a function. To call a function, its prototype must have been declared before the point of call.
inline function
Function that is expanded at the point of call, if possible. Inline functions avoid the normal function-calling overhead by replacing the call by the function's code.
local static objects
Local object that is created and initialized once before the function is first called and whose value persists across invocations of the function.
local variables
Variables defined inside a function. Local variables are accessible only within the function body.
object lifetime
Every object has an associated lifetime. Objects that are defined inside a block exist from when their definition is encountered until the end of the block in which they are defined. Local static objects and global objects defined outside any function are created during program startup and are destroyed when the main function ends. Dynamically created objects that are created through a new expression exist until the memory in which they were created is freed through a corresponding delete.
overload resolution
A synonym for function matching.
overloaded function
A function that has the same name as at least one other function. Overloaded functions must differ in the number or type of their parameters.
parameters
Variables local to a function whose initial values are supplied when the function is called.
recursive function
Function that calls itself directly or indirectly.
return type
The type of the value returned from a function.
synthesized default constructor
If there are no constructors defined by a class, then the compiler will create (synthesize) a default constructor. This constructor default initializes each data member of the class.
temporary object
Unnamed object automatically created by the compiler in the course of evaluating an expression. The phrase temporary object is usually abreviated as temporary. A temporary persists until the end of the largest expression that encloses the expression for which it was created.
this pointer
Implicit parameter of a member function. this points to the object on which the function is invoked. It is a pointer to the class type. In a const member function the pointer is a pointer to const.
viable functions
The subset of overloaded functions that could match a given call. Viable functions have the same number of parameters as arguments to the call and each argument type can potentially be converted to the corresponding parameter type.
