In either C or C++, should I check pointer parameters against NULL/nullptr?

Question

This question was inspired by this answer.

I\'ve always been of the philosophy that the callee is never responsible when the caller does something stupid, like passi

Answer 1

Defense in Depth principle says yes. If this is an external API then totally essential. Otherwise, at least an assert to assist in debugging misuse of your API.

You can document the contract until you are blue in the face, but you cannot in callee code prevent ill-advised or malicious misuse of your function. The decision you have to make is what's the likely cost of misuse.