A: No. You never have to explicitly call a destructor (except with placement new).

A class''s destructor (whether or not you explicitly describe one) automatically invokes the destructors for member objects. They are destroyed in reverse order they show in the declaration for the class.

class Member {               

public:

~Member();

...

};

class Fred {

public:

~Fred();

... private: Member x_; Member y_; Member z_;

};

Fred::~Fred()

{

// Compiler automagically calls z_.~Member()

// Compiler automagically calls y_.~Member()

// Compiler automagically calls x_.~Member()

}

A: No. You never require to explicitly call a destructor (except with placement new).

A derived class''s destructor (whether or not you explicitly define one) automagically invokes the destructors for base class sub objects. Base classes are destructed after member objects. In the event of multiple inheritances, direct base classes are destructed in the reverse order of their appearance in the inheritance list.

class Member {

public:

~Member();

...

};

class Base {

public:

virtual ~Base(); // A virtual destructor

...

};

class Derived : public Base {

public:

~Derived();

... private: Member x_;

};

Derived::~Derived()

{

// Compiler automagically calls x_.~Member()

// Compiler automagically calls Base::~Base()

}

Note: Order dependencies along with virtual inheritance are trickier. If you are relying onto order dependencies within a virtual inheritance hierarchy, you''ll require many more information than is in this