What is a copy constructor in C++?

c++, constructor

Solution

A copy constructor has the following form:

class example 
{
    example(const example&) 
    {
        // this is the copy constructor
    }
}

The following example shows where it is called.

void foo(example x);

int main(void)
{
    example x1; //normal ctor
    example x2 = x1; // copy ctor
    example x3(x2); // copy ctor

    foo(x1); // calls the copy ctor to copy the argument for foo

}

Problem

On page 6 of Scott Meyers's Effective C++, the term 'copy constructor' is defined. I've been using Schiltdt's book as my reference and I can find no mention of copy constructors. I get the idea but is this a standard part of c++? Will such constructors get called when a pass a class by value?

Original source