The this Pointer

All nonstatic member functions can use the this keyword, which is a const (nonmodifiable) pointer to the object for which the function was called. Member data is addressed by evaluating the expression this–>member-name (although this technique is seldom used). In member functions, using a member name in an expression implicitly uses this–>member-name to select the correct function or data member.

Note   Because the this pointer is nonmodifiable, assignments to this are not allowed. Earlier implementations of C++ allowed assignments to this.

Occasionally, the this pointer is used directly — for example, to manipulate self-referential data structures, where the address of the current object is required.