Virtual Default Destructors in C++

Question

I\'ve got a large set of inherited classes (criteria) which inherit from a base class (criterion). Here\'s criterion\'s code

class criterion
{
p         


        

Answer 1

Yes - the base class needs a virtual destructor, even if it's empty. If that is not done, then when something delete's a derived object through a base pointer/reference, the derived object's member objects will not get a chance to destroy themselves properly.

Derived classes do not need to declare or define their own destructor unless they need something other than default destructor behavior.