Constructors

sources/modules/object-model/constructors.md

@@ -3,4 +3,110 @@
 _Skeleton descriptions are typeset in italic text,_
 _so please don't remove these descriptions when editing the topic._
 
-This topic is currently under construction and will soon be filled with information :)
+### Overview
+
+_Provides a short natural language abstract of the module’s contents._
+_Specifies the different levels of teaching._
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Level             Objective
+----------------- ------------------------------------------------------
+Foundational:      Basic usage of constructors
+
+Main:              Initialization and overloading   
+
+Advanced:          TBD 
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+### Motivation
+
+_Why is this important?_
+_Why do we want to learn/teach this topic?_
+
+Constructors are fundamental to generate objects from classes and structs, so understanding them is essential to work with objects.
+
+### Topic introduction
+
+_Very brief introduction to the topic._
+
+### Foundational: Basic use of constructors
+
+#### Background/Required Knowledge
+
+A student:
+
+1. should know the notion of classes and structs %todo link to classes 
+
+#### Student outcomes
+
+_A list of things "a student should be able to" after the curriculum._
+_The next word should be an action word and testable in an exam._
+_Max 5 items._
+
+A student should be able to:
+
+1. Add constructors to classes and structs
+2. Explain different types of initialization
+3. Explain compiler provided constructors when these are provided, what these do, and when these go away
+4. Explain differences between creating an object and declare a variable
+
+#### Points to cover
+
+* Overloading of constructors and default arguments
+* Copy constructor and destructor
+* Constructors can be used to initialize class members 
+
+#### Caveats
+
+_This section mentions subtle points to understand, like anything resulting in
+implementation-defined, unspecified, or undefined behavior._
+
+* None
+
+### Main: 
+
+#### Background/Required Knowledge
+
+* All of the above.
+* Class inheritance %todo check for link
+* Dynamic memory
+* Difference between shared and unique pointers
+
+#### Student outcomes
+
+A student should be able to:
+
+1. Explain the differences between the big five, namely, copy constructor, move constructor, copy/assign, move/assign, destructor, and constructor.
+2. Construct a initializer list and explain conditions when it is necessary
+3. Delegate to the constructor of the base class
+4. Demonstrate and explain safe memory handling using shared or unique pointers
+5. Define what RAII is, the role of the constructor in it; and the relationship with its destructor 
+
+#### Caveats
+
+* Order of construction should match the initalizer list order
+
+#### Points to cover
+
+* Not calling virtual functions from the base class
+* Do not initialize data outside of the constructor (two face initialization)
+* All objects should be initialized within the constructor and should have a well-defined state
+* Difference between assignment and deep copy
+
+For more details, we refer to the [C++ core guidelines](https://isocpp.github.io/CppCoreGuidelines/CppCoreGuidelines)
+
+### Advanced: 
+
+_These are important topics that are not expected to be covered but provide
+guidance where one can continue to investigate this topic in more depth._
+
+* Member references must be initialized in the constructor   
+* Member classes not initialized explicitly will be initialized using the default constructor
+* Exceptions thrown in constructor (needs to be extended)
+* Protected constructor prevents direct construction of a base class
+* Explicit constructor prevents implicit type conversion of a single argument 
+* Member classes are constructed in the order they are declared
+* Constructors for classes with static members must be defined outside of the body of the class
+* Non-state data member can be given a default value at initialization, but constructor take 
+