On Mon, 5 Jun 2006, Al Boldi wrote:
> >
> > A useful shorthand for A.Free; A := nil; is FreeAndNil(A);
> > Similarly, A.Free; is a shorthand for if A<>nil then A.Destroy;
> >
> > As the example shows, the programmer has to take care that once a object
> > is freed, none of the pointers to it are used! If more that one variable
> > points to the same object instance, this is indeed not so easy.
> >
> > Note that unlike e.g. many scripting languages, Pascal has no automatic
> > memory management.
>
> Thanks for the detailed explanation!
>
> So to ensure a valid self inside the instance method, it should be virtual?
No. The compiler cannot ensure this, not ever.
You must only make a method Virtual if you know you will override it in
descendent objects.
> If so, what side-effects would this cause when applied across the complete
> class-hierarchy?
Blow up the size of you executable.
>
> And is there a switch to pass to FPC to make all methods virtual?
No. It would make no sense. It only blows up your executable.
Michael.
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