Destructor

A Destructor is a special member function of a class in object-oriented programming that is automatically called when an object of that class is destroyed or goes out of scope. Its primary responsibility is to release resources acquired by the object during its lifetime, such as dynamically allocated memory, open files, or network connections. This ensures that resources are properly cleaned up, preventing memory leaks, resource exhaustion, and other potential issues. Destructors are essential for managing the lifecycle of objects and maintaining the integrity of a program's resources.

Destructor meaning with examples

• In C++, the `~MyClass()` syntax designates the destructor. If `MyClass` allocated memory using `new`, the Destructor would use `delete` to free it, preventing memory leaks. Failure to define a Destructor for this would result in uncontrolled memory accumulation.
• A database connection object should have a destructor. When the object goes out of scope, the Destructor would automatically close the connection and release resources to prevent hanging connections, or exhausting connection pools that might not be reclaimed otherwise.
• If a file handler class uses a constructor to open a file, the Destructor should close the file. This ensures that the file is properly closed even if the program crashes or terminates unexpectedly, preventing data corruption and possible file system corruption.
• Consider a graphics object that uses a constructor to allocate memory for textures and other GPU resources. The Destructor should release this memory by deleting textures before the object goes out of scope to return memory back to the operating system, and avoid memory leaks and video card resource exhaustion.