C++ Memory Management: From Fear to Triumph
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4

The Way Forward

This article has focused on finding the right role for C++ amongst today's other popular languages, and on understanding its most difficult aspect: memory management. The tables of common memory-related errors presented here can be used as a handy reference, to find and avoid such errors in your own code. Subsequent articles of the series will continue to discuss C++ memory management in greater detail.

The second article will be devoted to describing the nature of the C++ memory management mechanism, so that you can begin to apply it creatively in your designs. After that, the third article will present a series of specific techniques that you can use as building blocks in your programs.

C++ memory management is an enormously useful tool for creating elegant software. Having gained a clear awareness of its dangers, you are now ready to understand its benefits. Enabling you to do so is, ultimately, the purpose of this series of articles.

Related Reading C++ Pocket Reference By Kyle Loudon

Further Reading

A number of very useful resources are available regarding C++. Notes on these resources are provided here (the Bibliography itself follows).

First, you need a book with broad coverage, which can serve as an introduction, a reference, and for review. Ira Pohl's C++ by Dissection [Poh02] is an example of such a book. It features a particularly gentle ramp-up into working with the language.

In addition to a book with broad coverage, you will need books that focus specifically on the most difficult aspects of the language and present techniques to deal with them. Three titles that you should find very valuable are Effective C++ [Mey98] and More Effective C++ [Mey96] (both by Scott Meyers), and C++ FAQs [Cli95] by Marshall P. Cline and Greg A. Lomow, which is also available in an online version.

The key to reading all three of these books is not to panic. They contain a great deal of difficult technical details, and are broken up into a large number of very specific topics. Unless you are merely reviewing material with which you are already familiar, reading any of these books from cover to cover is unlikely to be useful.

A good strategy is to allocate some time (even as little as 15 minutes) each day to work with either of Meyers' books, or with C++ FAQs. Begin your session by looking over the entire table of contents, which, in all three books, has a very detailed listing of all of the items covered. Don't ignore this important step; it will take you progressively less time as you become familiar with each particular book.

Next, try to read the items that are most relevant to the current problem that you are trying to solve, ones where you feel that you are weak, or even those that seem most interesting to you. An item that looks completely unfamiliar is also a good candidate — it is likely an important aspect of C++ of which you are not yet aware.

Finally, when you want insights into bureaucracy, tips on what to do with your icewater during NASA meetings (answer: dip booster rocket O-ring material into it), or just a good laugh when you are frustrated with C++, try Richard P. Feynman's "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" [Fey88]. The second article in this series will describe why Feynman's book is so important.

Bibliography

See Further Reading for notes on this bibliography.

[Cli95] Marshall P. Cline and Greg A. Lomow. C++ FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc.. Copyright © 1995. 0-201-58958-3.

[Fey88] Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.. Copyright © 1998 Gweneth Feynman and Ralph Leighton. 0-393-02659-0.

[Mey96] Scott Meyers. More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc.. Copyright © 1996. 020163371X.

[Mey98] Scott Meyers. Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs. Second. Addison-Wesley. Copyright © 1998. 0-201-92488-9.

[Poh02] Ira Pohl. C++ by Dissection: The Essentials of C++ Programming. Addison-Wesley. Copyright © 2002. 0-201-74396-5.

A. Additional Example Code and Outputs

• The Corrected SimpleString
• A Base Class Used in Several Examples
• A Derived Class Used in Several Examples
• Object Slicing in Function Call: Example Output
• The Non-Virtual Destructor: Example Classes
• The Non-Virtual Destructor: Example Output
• Using Arrays Polymorphically: Example Output
• C vs. C++ Casts: the Example NotDerived Class
• C vs. C++ Casts: Example Output
• Bitwise Copying of Objects: Example Output
• Freeing Memory that Was Not Dynamically Allocated: Example Output
• Exception Leaving a Constructor: Example Output
• Exception Leaving a Destructor: Example Class
• Exception Leaving a Destructor: Example Output
• Improper Throw: Example Output
• Improper Catch: Example Output

List of Tables

1. Errors in Function (or Method) Calls and Returns
2. Errors when Defining Methods in Classes
3. Errors in Handling of Allocated Memory or Objects
4. Errors Related to Exceptions

George Belotsky is a software architect who has done extensive work on high-performance internet servers, as well as hard real-time and embedded systems.

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