Destructors

A destructor is a special member function that runs automatically when an object is destroyed.

Purpose

• Free resources (memory, file handles, network connections)
• Clean up before the object is removed

Syntax

class MyClass {
public:
    ~MyClass() {
        // cleanup code
    }
};

Key Properties

• Same name as class, preceded by ~
• Takes no arguments
• No return type
• Cannot be overloaded (only one per class)
• Called automatically when object goes out of scope

When Destructors Are Called

1. Stack objects: When they go out of scope
2. Heap objects: When delete is called
3. Static objects: When the program ends
4. Temporary objects: When the expression completes

Destructor Order

Destructors are called in reverse order of construction. Derived class destructor runs before base class destructor.

class Base {
public:
    ~Base() { cout << "Base destroyed"; }
};
class Derived : public Base {
public:
    ~Derived() { cout << "Derived destroyed"; }
};
// Derived destroyed first, then Base