How bad is “if (!this)” in a C++ member function?

Question

If I come across old code that does if (!this) return; in an app, how severe a risk is this? Is it a dangerous ticking time bomb that requires an immediate app-wide

Answer 1

Like all undefined behavior

if (!this)
{
   return NULL;
}

this is a bomb waiting to go off. If it works with your current compilers, you are kind-of lucky, kind-of unlucky!

The next release of the same compilers might be more aggressive and see this as dead code. As this can never be null, the code can "safely" be removed.

I think it is better if you removed it!