simple destructor question

[michael]

Hi All,

if I have a class that uses a STL list of pointers like:

class SomeClass {
private:
list<OtherClass*> aList;
--other stuff--
}

If I just do aList.clear() in the destructor is that sufficient or do I have
to do a delete on each pointer in the list?

Thanks for your help

Michael

 

[anon]

Hi All,

if I have a class that uses a STL list of pointers like:

class SomeClass {
private:
list<OtherClass*> aList;
--other stuff--
}

If I just do aList.clear() in the destructor is that sufficient or do I have
to do a delete on each pointer in the list?

You have to delete each pointer. Maybe do it in SomeClass's destructor?

 

[Keith Davies]

You have to delete each pointer. Maybe do it in SomeClass's destructor?

Or use a smart pointer of some sort:

class SomeClass {
private:
std::list< boost::shared_ptr< OtherClass > > aList;
};

aList.clear() will do The Right Thing. In fact, you don't even need to
call it in the dtor -- aList is destructed when the SomeClass object
goes away.


Keith

 

[Mark P]

You have to delete each pointer. Maybe do it in SomeClass's destructor?

No, it depends what you intend. What we can say for sure is that
clearing (or destructing) the list will not do anything to the objects
pointed to by the contents of that list. Now if you actually intend to
delete each of those objects, then you need to do so explicitly yourself.