A class with a virtual function should have a virtual or protected destructor

Reason

A class with a virtual function is usually (and in general) used via a pointer to base. Usually, the last user has to call delete on a pointer to base, often via a smart pointer to base, so the destructor should be public and virtual. Less commonly, if deletion through a pointer to base is not intended to be supported, the destructor should be protected and non-virtual; see C.35.

Example, bad

struct B {
    virtual int f() = 0;
    // ... no user-written destructor, defaults to public non-virtual ...
};

// bad: derived from a class without a virtual destructor
struct D : B {
    string s {"default"};
    // ...
};

void use()
{
    unique_ptr<B> p = make_unique<D>();
    // ...
} // undefined behavior, might call B::~B only and leak the string

Note

There are people who don't follow this rule because they plan to use a class only through a shared_ptr: std::shared_ptr<B> p = std::make_shared<D>(args); Here, the shared pointer will take care of deletion, so no leak will occur from an inappropriate delete of the base. People who do this consistently can get a false positive, but the rule is important -- what if one was allocated using make_unique? It's not safe unless the author of B ensures that it can never be misused, such as by making all constructors private and providing a factory function to enforce the allocation with make_shared.

Enforcement

• A class with any virtual functions should have a destructor that is either public and virtual or else protected and non-virtual.
• Flag delete of a class with a virtual function but no virtual destructor.