C++: Returning a class variable

Question

When I try using a method to return a private variable, it seems the value changes from since the object was constructed. Here is my code and output.

main.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include "coordinate.h"

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    Coordinate c(1, 1);
    cout << c.getX() << endl;

}

coordinate.cpp

#include "coordinate.h"
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

Coordinate::Coordinate(int x, int y)
{
    x = x;
    y = y;

    cout << x << endl;

}

coordinate.h

#ifndef COORDINATE_H
#define COORDINATE_H

class Coordinate
{
    private:
        int x;
        int y;

    public:
        Coordinate(int x, int y);

        int getX() { return x; }
        int getY() { return y; }
};

#endif

Answer 1

Your constructor is assigning to its arguments instead of the object's private fields. Use an initialization list, or explicitly qualify the assignment targets with this, or pick different argument names:

Coordinate::Coordinate(int x, int y) : x(x), y(y) {
    cout << x << endl;
}

or

Coordinate::Coordinate(int x, int y) {
    this->x = x;
    this->y = y;
    cout << x << endl;
}

or

Coordinate::Coordinate(int xVal, int yVal) {
    x = xVal;
    y = yVal;
    cout << x << endl;
}