C++ Constructor/Destructor inheritance

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Terminology, terminology…

OK, what do we mean by “Foo is inherited”? We mean that if objects of class A have Foo in its interface, then objects of class B which is a subclass of A also have Foo in its interface.

  • Constructors aren’t a part of objects’ interface. They belong directly to classes. Classes A and B may provide completely different sets of constructors. No “being inherited” here.

    (Implementation detail: each B’s constructors calls some A’s constructor.)

  • Destructors indeed are a part of each object’s interface, since the object’s user is responsible for calling them (i.e. directly with delete or indirectly by letting an object out of scope). Each object has exactly one destructor: its own destructor, which might optionally be a virtual one. It is always its own, and it’s not inherited.

    (Implementation detail: B’s destructor calls A’s destructor.)

So: there’s a connection between base and derived constructors and destructors, but it’s not like “they’re inherited”.

I hope this answers what you have in mind.

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