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It’s time to put these critters to work. Next, I give my first critter a hunger level.
crit1.m_Hunger = 9;
The preceding code assigns 9 to crit1’s data member m_Hunger. Just like when you are accessing an available member function of an object, you can access an available data member of an object using the member selection operator.
To prove that the assignment worked, I display the critter’s hunger level.
cout << "crit1’s hunger level is " << crit1.m_Hunger << ".\n";
The preceding code displays crit1’s data member m_Hunger and correctly shows 9. Just like when you are assigning a value to an available data member, you can
260 Chapter 8 n Classes: Critter Caretaker
get the value of an available data member through the member selection operator.
Next, I show that the same process works for another Critter object.
crit2.m_Hunger = 3;
cout << "crit2’s hunger level is " << crit2.m_Hunger << ".\n\n";
This time, I assign 3 to crit2’s data member m_Hunger and display it.
So, crit1 and crit2 are both instances of Critter, and yet each exists independently and each has its own identity. Also, each has its own m_Hunger data member with its own value.