Why Is Explicitly Deleting Heap Memory Crucial in C Even on Program Exit?

Deleting Heap Memory on Program Exit in C

In C , it's crucial to explicitly call delete on heap-allocated memory, even if you assume it will be deallocated automatically upon program exit.

The Reason:

While the operating system typically deallocates memory on program termination, there are two important drawbacks to relying on automatic memory management:

1. Destructor Execution: Heap-allocated objects have destructors that perform cleanup tasks, such as releasing locks or writing logs. If you don't call delete, these destructors won't run, leaving your program in an inconsistent state.
2. Memory Leaks: If you allocate memory dynamically without explicitly deallocating it, your program leaks memory. This can accumulate over time, eventually causing system instability.

Best Practice:

Always call delete on heap allocations, regardless of your assumptions. This ensures proper memory management, prevents potential problems, and improves the reliability of your code.

Example:

In your code snippet:

The explicit delete call ensures that the object a is deallocated properly. This way, the destructor of A will be called, executing any necessary cleanup tasks, and the allocated memory will be released.

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