TITLE: is "delete this" safe

[ Here is a little bit more to add to the previous tip on
  "delete this". -adc ]


PROBLEM: Sharma Kunapalli <sgk@moorea.tcs.com>

I know that "delete this" inside a member function
does not make much sense when only a single process
is involved, but how about when there are several 
processes involved that are talking to each other?

Is this bad practice anyways?


RESPONSE: pete@genghis.interbase.borland.com (Pete Becker)

	The fundamental issue here is not whether to use 'delete this', but
how to manage objects so that they exist as long as needed and not much
longer. That's an architectural issue, not a language issue. 'delete this'
can serve as a minor optimization in a reference counted scheme, but the 
dangers that it presents would make me tend to avoid it.


RESPONSE: clamage@Eng.Sun.COM (Steve Clamage), 7 Dec 94


Considering how often this is asked, this question ought to be in the FAQ.
(Marshall, are you there?)

Your program will crash (or behave strangely) if the object
- was not created with 'new';
- is a member of an array created with 'new[]';
- is later the object of an explicit 'delete';
- is referenced anyplace after the 'delete', such as by the function which
	invoked the cleaner. Calling the cleaner from another member
	function would be particularly interesting :-)

Sometimes you can be sure that it is safe to 'delete this'. In general, it
is dangerous.