Adding functionality to a class can be done by adding a method or by defining a function that takes an object as its first parameter. Most programmers that I know would choose for the solution of adding a instance method.
However, I sometimes prefer to create a separate function. For example, in the example code below Area and Diagonal are defined as separate functions instead of methods. I find it better this way because I think these functions provide enhancements rather than core functionality.
Is this considered a good/bad practice? If the answer is "it depends", then what are the rules for deciding between adding method or defining a separate function?
class Rect
{
public:
Rect(int x, int y, int w, int h) :
mX(x), mY(y), mWidth(w), mHeight(h)
{
}
int x() const { return mX; }
int y() const { return mY; }
int width() const { return mWidth; }
int height() const { return mHeight; }
private:
int mX, mY, mWidth, mHeight;
};
int Area(const Rect & inRect)
{
return inRect.width() * inRect.height();
}
float Diagonal(const Rect & inRect)
{
return std::sqrt(std::pow(static_cast<float>(inRect.width()), 2) + std::pow(static_cast<float>(inRect.height()), 2));
}
