// Interface for a simple String class to encapsulate a C character string

#ifndef _MYSTRING_H_
#define _MYSTRING_H_

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class MyString {
public:
    // Constructors and destructor
    MyString(const char * = "");   // Create from C string
    MyString(const MyString &); // Copy constructor
    ~MyString() { delete [] sdata; }

    // Assignment
    MyString & operator = (const MyString &);
    MyString & operator = (const char *);

    // Character access
    char & operator [] (int i);
    char operator [] (int i) const {
        return (i < 0 || i >= len) ? '\0' : sdata[i];
    }

    // Concatenation
    MyString operator + (const MyString &) const;

    // Cast to c string
    operator const char * () const { return sdata; }

    // Query methods
    unsigned int length() const { return len; }

private:
    char * sdata;           // Storage for the characters
    unsigned int len;       // Current length

    // Private constructor for pre-allocation
    MyString(const char *, unsigned int);  
};

inline ostream & operator << (ostream & o, const MyString & s) {
    return o << (const char *) s;
}

#endif