Calling member functions from a constructor

Question

I know this question has a similar title to this: C++: calling member functions within constructor? but I am asking a more general question.

Is it good practice to c

Answer 1

There is at least one associated "gotcha" you should be aware of:

N3797 12.6.2/14

Member functions (including virtual member functions, 10.3) can be called for an object under construction. Similarly, an object under construction can be the operand of the typeid operator (5.2.8) or of a dynamic_cast (5.2.7). However, if these operations are performed in a ctor-initializer (or in a function called directly or indirectly from a ctor-initializer) before all the mem-initializers for base classes have completed, the result of the operation is undefined. [Example:

class A {
public:
   A(int);
};

class B : public A {
    int j;
public:
    int f();
    B() : A(f()),  // undefined: calls member function
                   // but base A not yet initialized
    j(f()) { }     // well-defined: bases are all initialized
};

class C {
public:
    C(int);
};

class D : public B, C {
    int i;
public:
    D() : C(f()), // undefined: calls member function
                  // but base C not yet initialized
    i(f()) { }    // well-defined: bases are all initialized
};

— end example]