C++ Constructor/Destructor inheritance

Question

EDIT : Summary of answers

In the following, B is a subclass of A.

It\'s a matter of terminology; ctors and dtors are not in

Answer 1

Technically, destructors ARE inherited. But in normal circumstances, the inherited destructors are not directly used for a derived class; they're invoked because the derived class's own destructor calls them in order to destroy its own "base class subobjects" as a step within destroying the larger object. And in the unusual circumstances where you do directly use a base class destructor on a derived object, it's very difficult to avoid Undefined Behavior.

This example comes straight from the C++ Standard (12.4p12).

struct B {
  virtual ~B() { }
};
struct D : B {
  ~D() { }
};

D D_object;
typedef B B_alias;
B* B_ptr = &D_object;

void f() {
  D_object.B::~B();              // calls B's destructor
  B_ptr->~B();                   // calls D's destructor
  B_ptr->~B_alias();             // calls D's destructor
  B_ptr->B_alias::~B();          // calls B's destructor
  B_ptr->B_alias::~B_alias();    // calls B's destructor
}

If ~B were not an inherited member of D, the first statement in f would be ill-formed. As it is, it's legal C++, though extremely dangerous.