Destructors in C++

A destructor is a special member function that works just opposite to constructor, unlike constructors that are used for initializing an object, destructors destroy (or delete) the object.

~class_name()    
{   
   //Some code   
}

Similar to constructor, the destructor name should exactly match with the class name. A destructor declaration should always begin with the tilde(~) symbol as shown in the syntax above.

When does the destructor get called?

A destructor is automatically called when:

1) The program finished execution.
2) When a scope (the { } parenthesis) containing local variable ends.
3) When you call the delete operator.

Destructor Example

#include <iostream>  
using namespace std;  
class HelloWorld{  
public:    
//Constructor    
HelloWorld(){      
cout<<"Constructor is called"<<endl;    
}    
//Destructor    
~HelloWorld(){      
cout<<"Destructor is called"<<endl;    
 }     
//Member function     
void display(){       
cout<<"Hello World!"<<endl;     
}  };  
int main(){     
//Object created     
HelloWorld obj;     
//Member function called     
obj.display();     
return 0;  }

Output

Constructor is called
Hello World!
Destructor is called