C++ FAQ / Section 4 / FAQ 4.5

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Revised Jul 4, 2012

[4.5] What updates were made for the 03/11 release?

6 New FAQs:

• [2.3] Where can I find the C++ FAQ translated into Belorussian (Minsk)?
  (created with much thanks to translator M. Ruzkowski)
• [2.8] Where can I find the C++ FAQ translated into German?
  (created with much thanks to translator Julian Albrecht)
• [4.5] What updates were made for the 03/11 release?
  (created)
• [8.7] What does it mean that a reference must refer to an object, not a dereferenced NULL pointer?
  (created thanks to a suggestion from Brendan Iribe)
• [10.22] What is the purpose of the explicit keyword?
  (created thanks to Joseph Coffland)
• [15.22] How can I print a char as a number? How can I print a char* so the output shows the pointer's numeric value? Updated!
  (created thanks to some great work by Paul Feraud)

24 Changed FAQs:

• [2.13] Where can I find the C++ FAQ translated into Romanian?
  (fixed a typo thanks to alert reader Riff)
• [10.7] Should you use the this pointer in the constructor?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [10.21] Why am I getting an error after declaring a Foo object via Foo x(Bar())?
  (added some more fine print on the second solution thanks to alert reader Dan Nabutovsky)
• [11.14] Is there a way to force new to allocate memory from a specific memory area?
  (typo in the code (null vs. NULL) was fixed thanks to Eli Bendersky)
• [12.4] I'm creating a derived class; should my assignment operator call my base class's assignment operator?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [13.12] I still don't get it. Why shouldn't my Matrix class's interface look like an array-of-array?
  (fixed two typos thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [16.2] Is it safe to delete the same pointer twice?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [16.12] What if I forget the [] when deleteing an array allocated via new T[n]?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [16.13] Can I drop the [] when deleteing an array of some built-in type (char, int, etc)?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [16.15] Is it legal (and moral) for a member function to say delete this?
  (fixed some typos thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [16.25] Can I absolutely prevent people from subverting the reference counting mechanism, and if so, should I?
  (fixed two typos thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [16.26] Can I use a garbage collector in C++?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [17.2] I'm still not convinced: a 4-line code snippet shows that return-codes aren't any worse than exceptions; why should I therefore use exceptions on an application that is orders of magnitude larger?
  (improved the wording thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [17.8] How can I handle a constructor that fails?
  (added a discussion about memory leaks thanks to an insightful question from Wojciech "Spook" Sura)
• [18.1] What is "const correctness"?
  (fixed two typos thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [18.17] Why am I getting an error converting a Foo** → Foo const**?
  (fix two typos thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [20.5] How can a member function in my derived class call the same function from its base class?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [20.7] When should my destructor be virtual?
  (changed "explicit destructor" to "explicitly defined destructor" to avoid confusion with the explicit keyword used with constructors)
• [21.2] Converting Derived* → Base* works OK; why doesn't Derived** → Base** work?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [23.9] What's the meaning of, Warning: Derived::f(char) hides Base::f(double)?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [25.6] Is there a simple way to visualize all these tradeoffs?
  (improved the wording and fixed some typos thanks to Rob Swarbrick and Thomas Middeldorp and Martinho Fernandes)
• [25.7] Can you give another example to illustrate the above disciplines?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [27.1] What are some good C++ coding standards?
  (fixed a typo thanks to Thomas Middeldorp)
• [29.2] Where do I start? Why do I feel so confused, so stupid?
  (fixed two broken links thanks to alert reader Dan Nabutovsky)