Destructor Definition:

A destructor is called when an object exits scope or is explicitly destroyed by a delete call. A destructor has the same name as the class and is prefixed by a tilde. 

The destructor for the String class, for example, is declared as String.

If you don’t declare a destructor, the compiler will create one for you; for most classes, this is enough. When the class stores handle system resources that must be relinquished or pointers that own the memory they point to, you just need to create a custom destructor.

Destructors are functions with the same name as the class but with a tilde before them.

The declaration of destructors is governed by several rules:

• Accept no arguments.
• Please don’t return a value (or void).
• It is not possible to declare it as const, volatile, or static. They can, however, be used to destroy things that have been defined as const, volatile, or static.

It is possible to declare it as virtual. You can destroy objects without knowing their type by utilizing virtual destructors; the virtual function mechanism calls the correct destructor for the object. For abstract classes, destructors can also be defined as pure virtual functions.

Destructors are a type of destructor that is used to destroy anything.

When one of the following events occurs, destructors are invoked:

• A block-scoped local (automatic) object falls out of scope.
• The delete operator is used to explicitly deallocate an object allocated with the new operator.
• A transient object’s work life span expires.
• When a program is finished, global or static objects are created.
• The destructor is invoked explicitly by using the fully qualified name of the destructor function.
• Destructors have full access to class member functions and data.
• The employment of destructors is subject to two limitations:
• You are unable to obtain its location.
• Derived classes don’t inherit their base class’s destructor.

Destruction order:

When an item is removed from the scope or deleted, the following series of actions occur:

• The class’s destructor is called, and the destructor function’s body is executed.
• Nostratic member object destructors are called in the order they appear in the class declaration. The order in which these members are built or destroyed is unaffected by the optional member initialization list used in their construction.
• Non-virtual base class destructors are called in the reverse order of declaration.
• Virtual base class destructors are called in the order in which they were declared.