I wrote a simple program to learn more about the order of creating and destructing objects in C++ (using Visual Studio 2015). Here it is:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
class A
{
public:
A(string name)
: name(name)
{
cout << "A(" << name << ")::constructor()" << endl;
}
~A()
{
cout << "A(" << name << ")::destructor()" << endl;
}
private:
string name;
};
class C
{
public:
C(string name, A a)
: name(name), a(a)
{
cout << "C(" << name << ")::constructor()" << endl;
}
~C()
{
cout << "C(" << name << ")::destructor()" << endl;
}
private:
string name;
A a;
};
class B
{
public:
B(string name)
: name(name)
{
cout << "B(" << name << ")::constructor()" << endl;
}
~B()
{
cout << "B(" << name << ")::destructor()" << endl;
}
private:
string name;
A a1{"a1"};
A a2{"a2"};
C c1{"c1", a1};
A a3{"a3"};
};
int main()
{
B b("b1");
return 0;
}
The output surprised me a little bit (the a1
s):
A(a1)::constructor()
A(a2)::constructor()
C(c1)::constructor()
A(a1)::destructor()
A(a3)::constructor()
B(b1)::constructor()
B(b1)::destructor()
A(a3)::destructor()
C(c1)::destructor()
A(a1)::destructor()
A(a2)::destructor()
A(a1)::destructor()
To learn more about what was going on I added information about the instances of objects:
A(string name)
: name(name)
{
cout << "A(" << name << ")::constructor(), this = " << this << endl;
}
~A()
{
cout << "A(" << name << ")::destructor(), this = " << this << endl;
}
The result was even more surprising:
A(a1)::constructor(), this = 0039FB28
A(a2)::constructor(), this = 0039FB44
C(c1)::constructor()
A(a1)::destructor(), this = 0039F8A8
A(a3)::constructor(), this = 0039FB98
B(b1)::constructor()
B(b1)::destructor()
A(a3)::destructor(), this = 0039FB98
C(c1)::destructor()
A(a1)::destructor(), this = 0039FB7C
A(a2)::destructor(), this = 0039FB44
A(a1)::destructor(), this = 0039FB28
Namely, why is a1
's constructor only called once and destructor 3 times? I'm passing a
by value so obviously at least 1 temporary object is created but please explain to me when and how many A
instances are created and destroyed?
As already noted in the comments, objects of type A
are also constructed via copy-construction when you pass them as arguments by value. In order to see this you can add a copy-constructor on your own:
A(const A& other)
: name(other.name)
{
cout << "A(" << name << ")::copy-constructor(), this = " << this << endl;
}
Sample output:
A(a1)::constructor(), this = 0xbff3512c
A(a2)::constructor(), this = 0xbff35130
A(a1)::copy-constructor(), this = 0xbff350e8
A(a1)::copy-constructor(), this = 0xbff35138
C(c1)::constructor()
A(a1)::destructor(), this = 0xbff350e8
A(a3)::constructor(), this = 0xbff3513c
B(b1)::constructor()
B(b1)::destructor()
A(a3)::destructor(), this = 0xbff3513c
C(c1)::destructor()
A(a1)::destructor(), this = 0xbff35138
A(a2)::destructor(), this = 0xbff35130
A(a1)::destructor(), this = 0xbff3512c
As you can see, one copy-construction happens when you pass a1 as parameter to the constructor of c1 and a second one happens when this constructor initializes its member a. The temporary copy is destructed immediately afterwards while the member is destructed when c is destructed.
Edit:
Here you can read the exact rules when a copy-constructor is created.
In order to not create a default copy-constructor it is not sufficient to provide any user-defined constructor, it needs to be a copy/move-constructor.
Edit2:
Taken from C++14 standard (12.8 Copying and moving class objects):
7 If the class definition does not explicitly declare a copy constructor, one is declared implicitly. If the class definition declares a move constructor or move assignment operator, the implicitly declared copy constructor is defined as deleted; otherwise, it is defined as defaulted (8.4). The latter case is deprecated if the class has a user-declared copy assignment operator or a user-declared destructor.