A function is called a friend function if the keyword friend is used with that function. The protected and private data of a class can be accessed using the friend function in CPP, if the function is declared inside the body of that class.
Syntax:
class class_name
{
friend data_type function_name(arguments);
};
Example:
#include <iostream.h> using namespace std; class Student { private: int grades; public: Student(): grades(0) { } friend int printGrades(Student); }; int printGrades(Student s1) { s1.grades += 8; return s1.grades; } int main() { Student s1; cout<<"Grade of Student: "<< printGrades(s1)<<endl; return 0; } |
Output
Grade of Student: 8 |