Initialize and return a struct in one line in C++

Question

Is this possible?

I know that you can initialize structs using list syntax.

IE

struct Foo f = { a, b, c};
return f;

is a possible to do this in one line as you would be with classes and constructors?

Thanks

Answer 1

Create a constructor for the struct (just like a class) and just do

return Foo(a,b,c);

Edit: just to clarify: structs in C++ are just like classes with the minor difference that their default access-permission is public (and not private like in a class). Therefore you can create a constructor very simply, like:

struct Foo {
  int a;
  Foo(int value) : a(value) {}
};

Answer 2

If you want your struct to remain a POD, use a function that creates it:

Foo make_foo(int a, int b, int c) {
    Foo f = { a, b, c };
    return f;
}

Foo test() {
    return make_foo(1, 2, 3);
}

With C++0x uniform initialization removes the need for that function:

Foo test() {
    return Foo{1, 2, 3};
    // or just: 
    return {1, 2, 3};
}