Re: Destructors

To: <info-dylan@ai.mit.edu>, "Chris Double" <chris@double.co.nz>
Subject: Re: Destructors
From: "P Tucker Withington" <ptw@callitrope.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 14:31:27 -0500
References: <B4F51E52.2757%robmyers@cwcom.net> <wk7lf4f7yf.fsf@double.co.nz>
Sender: owner-info-dylan@ai.mit.edu

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Double" <chris@double.co.nz>
To: <info-dylan@ai.mit.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: Destructors


[...]

> The safest way of ensuring construction/destruction type idioms would
> be to use block/cleanup forms I think. Wrapped in a macro like the
> with-open-file and with-lock type macros. Maybe add a resource release
> in the finalizer as well in case the user of the class does not use
> the with-* macro, or forgets to call the cleanup function. Harlequin
> Dylan does this in the SQL ODBC library for cleanup up SQL resources
> (statement handles, etc).
>
> Incidentally, I asked almost this exact question in my very first
> comp.lang.dylan post back in 1998 - finalization was the option
> presented back then too.

Finalization is a trap.  It is probably the source of more questions (and
bugs) in Java than any other "feature".  Your suggestion of block/cleanup is
the right way to go...

Follow-Ups:

Re: Destructors

From: Hugh Greene <q@tardis.ed.ac.uk>

Re: Destructors

From: Barry Margolin <barmar@bbnplanet.com>

References:

Destructors

From: Rob Myers <robmyers@cwcom.net>

Re: Destructors

From: Chris Double <chris@double.co.nz>