Destructors

Destructors are usually used to deallocate memory and do other cleanup for a class object and its class members when the object is destroyed. A destructor is called for a class object when that object passes out of scope or is explicitly deleted.

A destructor is a member function with the same name as its class prefixed by a ~ (tilde). For example:

class X {
public:
  // Constructor for class X
  X();
  // Destructor for class X
  ~X();
};

A destructor takes no arguments and has no return type. Its address cannot be taken. Destructors cannot be declared const, volatile, const volatileor static. A destructor can be declared virtual or pure virtual.

If no user-defined destructor exists for a class and one is needed, the compiler implicitly declares a destructor. This implicitly declared destructor is an inline public member of its class.

The compiler will implicitly define an implicitly declared destructor when the compiler uses the destructor to destroy an object of the destructor’s class type. Suppose a class A has an implicitly declared destructor. The following is equivalent to the function the compiler would implicitly define for A:

  A::~A() { }

The compiler first implicitly defines the implicitly declared destructors of the base classes and nonstatic data members of a class A before defining the implicitly declared destructor of A

A destructor of a class A is trivial if all the following are true:

• It is implicitly defined
• All the direct base classes of A have trivial destructors
• The classes of all the nonstatic data members of A have trivial destructors

If any of the above are false, then the destructor is nontrivial.

A union member cannot be of a class type that has a nontrivial destructor.

Class members that are class types can have their own destructors. Both base and derived classes can have destructors, although destructors are not inherited. If a base class A or a member of A has a destructor, and a class derived from A does not declare a destructor, a default destructor is generated.

The default destructor calls the destructors of the base class and members of the derived class.

The destructors of base classes and members are called in the reverse order of the completion of their constructor:

1. The destructor for a class object is called before destructors for members and bases are called.
2. Destructors for nonstatic members are called before destructors for base classes are called.
3. Destructors for nonvirtual base classes are called before destructors for virtual base classes are called.

When an exception is thrown for a class object with a destructor, the destructor for the temporary object thrown is not called until control passes out of the catch block.

Destructors are implicitly called when an automatic object (a local object that has been declared auto or register, or not declared as static or extern) or temporary object passes out of scope. They are implicitly called at program termination for constructed external and static objects. Destructors are invoked when you use the delete operator for objects created with the new operator.

For example:

#include <string>

class Y {
private:
  char * string;
  int number;
public:
  // Constructor
  Y(const char*, int);
  // Destructor
  ~Y() { delete[] string; }
};

// Define class Y constructor
Y::Y(const char* n, int a) {
  string = strcpy(new char[strlen(n) + 1 ], n);
  number = a;
}

int main () {
  // Create and initialize
  // object of class Y
  Y yobj = Y("somestring", 10);

  // ...

  // Destructor ~Y is called before
  // control returns from main()
}

You can use a destructor explicitly to destroy objects, although this practice is not recommended. However to destroy an object created with the placementnew operator, you can explicitly call the object’s destructor. The following example demonstrates this:

#include <new>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class A {
  public:
    A() { cout << "A::A()" << endl; }
    ~A() { cout << "A::~A()" << endl; }
};
int main () {
  char* p = new char[sizeof(A)];
  A* ap = new (p) A;
  ap->A::~A();
  delete [] p;
}

The statement A* ap = new (p) A dynamically creates a new object of type A not in the free store but in the memory allocated by p. The statementdelete [] p will delete the storage allocated by p, but the run time will still believe that the object pointed to by ap still exists until you explicitly call the destructor of A (with the statement ap->A::~A()).

Nonclass types have a pseudo destructor. The following example calls the pseudo destructor for an integer type:

typedef int I;
int main() {
  I x = 10;
  x.I::~I();
  x = 20;
}

The call to the pseudo destructor, x.I::~I(), has no effect at all. Object x has not been destroyed; the assignment x = 20 is still valid. Because pseudo destructors require the syntax for explicitly calling a destructor for a nonclass type to be valid, you can write code without having to know whether or not a destructor exists for a given type.

Types of Constructors

Default Constructors

A default constructor is a constructor that either has no parameters, or if it has parameters, all the parameters have default values.

If no user-defined constructor exists for a class A and one is needed, the compiler implicitly declares a constructor A::A(). This constructor is an inline public member of its class. The compiler will implicitly define A::A() when the compiler uses this constructor to create an object of type A. The constructor will have no constructor initializer and a null body.

The compiler first implicitly defines the implicitly declared constructors of the base classes and nonstatic data members of a class A before defining the implicitly declared constructor of A. No default constructor is created for a class that has any constant or reference type members.

A constructor of a class A is trivial if all the following are true:

• It is implicitly defined
• A has no virtual functions and no virtual base classes
• All the direct base classes of A have trivial constructors
• The classes of all the nonstatic data members of A have trivial constructors

If any of the above are false, then the constructor is nontrivial.

A union member cannot be of a class type that has a nontrivial constructor.

Like all functions, a constructor can have default arguments. They are used to initialize member objects. If default values are supplied, the trailing arguments can be omitted in the expression list of the constructor. Note that if a constructor has any arguments that do not have default values, it is not a default constructor.

A copy constructor for a class A is a constructor whose first parameter is of type A&, const A&, volatile A&, or const volatile A&. Copy constructors are used to make a copy of one class object from another class object of the same class type. You cannot use a copy constructor with an argument of the same type as its class; you must use a reference. You can provide copy constructors with additional parameters as long as they all have default arguments. If a user-defined copy constructor does not exist for a class and one is needed, the compiler implicitly creates a copy constructor, with public access, for that class. A copy constructor is not created for a class if any of its members or base classes have an inaccessible copy constructor.

The following code fragment shows two classes with constructors, default constructors, and copy constructors:

class X {
public:

  // default constructor, no arguments
  X();

  // constructor
  X(int, int , int = 0);

  // copy constructor
  X(const X&);

  // error, incorrect argument type
  X(X);
};

class Y {
public:

  // default constructor with one
  // default argument
  Y( int = 0);

  // default argument
  // copy constructor
  Y(const Y&, int = 0);
};

Copy Constructors

The copy constructor lets you create a new object from an existing one by initialization. A copy constructor of a class A is a non-template constructor in which the first parameter is of type A&, const A&, volatile A&, or const volatile A&, and the rest of its parameters (if there are any) have default values.

If you do not declare a copy constructor for a class A, the compiler will implicitly declare one for you, which will be an inline public member.

The following example demonstrates implicitly defined and user-defined copy constructors:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

struct A {
  int i;
  A() : i(10) { }
};

struct B {
  int j;
  B() : j(20) {
    cout << "Constructor B(), j = " << j << endl;
  }

  B(B& arg) : j(arg.j) {
    cout << "Copy constructor B(B&), j = " << j << endl;
  }

  B(const B&, int val = 30) : j(val) {
    cout << "Copy constructor B(const B&, int), j = " << j << endl;
  }
};

struct C {
  C() { }
  C(C&) { }
};

int main() {
  A a;
  A a1(a);
  B b;
  const B b_const;
  B b1(b);
  B b2(b_const);
  const C c_const;
//  C c1(c_const);
}

The following is the output of the above example:

Constructor B(), j = 20
Constructor B(), j = 20
Copy constructor B(B&), j = 20
Copy constructor B(const B&, int), j = 30

The statement A a1(a) creates a new object from a with an implicitly defined copy constructor. The statement B b1(b) creates a new object from b with the user-defined copy constructor B::B(B&). The statement B b2(b_const) creates a new object with the copy constructor B::B(const B&, int). The compiler would not allow the statement C c1(c_const) because a copy constructor that takes as its first parameter an object of type const C& has not been defined.

The implicitly declared copy constructor of a class A will have the form A::A(const A&) if the following are true:

• The direct and virtual bases of A have copy constructors whose first parameters have been qualified with const or const volatile
• The nonstatic class type or array of class type data members of A have copy constructors whose first parameters have been qualified with const orconst volatile

If the above are not true for a class A, the compiler will implicitly declare a copy constructor with the form A::A(A&).

The compiler cannot allow a program in which the compiler must implicitly define a copy constructor for a class A and one or more of the following are true:

• Class A has a nonstatic data member of a type which has an inaccessible or ambiguous copy constructor.
• Class A is derived from a class which has an inaccessible or ambiguous copy constructor.

The compiler will implicitly define an implicitly declared constructor of a class A if you initialize an object of type A or an object derived from class A.

An implicitly defined copy constructor will copy the bases and members of an object in the same order that a constructor would initialize the bases and members of the object.

Constructors in C++

A constructor is a special method that is created when the object is created or defined. This particular method holds the same name as that of the object and it initializes the instance of the object whenever that object is created. The constructor also usually holds the initializations of the different declared member variables of its object. Unlike some of the other methods, the constructor does not return a value, not even void.

When you create an object, if you do not declare a constructor, the compiler would create one for your program; this is useful because it lets all other objects and functions of the program know that this object exists. This compiler created constructor is called the default constructor. If you want to declare your own constructor, simply add a method with the same name as the object in the public section of the object. When you declare an instance of an object, whether you use that object or not, a constructor for the object is created and signals itself.

A constructor is declared without a return value, that also excludes void.
Therefore, when implemented, do not return a value:

A constructor is a member function with the same name as its class. For example:

class X {
public:
  X();      // constructor for class X
};

Constructors are used to create, and can initialize, objects of their class type.

You cannot declare a constructor as virtual or static, nor can you declare a constructor as const, volatile, or const volatile.

You do not specify a return type for a constructor. A return statement in the body of a constructor cannot have a return value.