Re: std destructors
Belebele wrote:
Pete Becker wrote:
A virtual destructor
is needed only if the design of the class calls for deleting objects
of derived types through pointers to the base type.
That is always the case when the derivation is public.
Never say "always".
Public
inheritance is an idiom that states that the derived class object can
be used as a base class object at all times (Liskov Substitution
Principle).
The implementor of the derived class cannot prevent clients from
keeping references to objects of the publicly derived class through
pointers of the base class (and deleting them anytime). It is then a
good practice to make the base class destructor virtual to make it
harder to use that base class incorrectly.
Private and protected inheritance is another matter, as the
substitution principle does not apply.
You're making too many assumptions. Protected inheritance could also
mean substitution, only the region is limited to the members of the
class itself or the derived class[es].
V
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