constructor

programming 1. In functional programming and typetheory, one of the symbols used to create an object with an

algebraic data type.

2. A function provided by a class in C++ and some other

object-oriented languages to instantiate an object,

i.e. to name it and initialise it. The constructor function

has the same name as the class. A class may also have a

destructor function to destroy objects of that class.

(1994-10-20)