Chapter 4: Initialization and cleanup

This chapter begins by introducing the constructor, which guarantees proper
initialization. The definition of the constructor leads into the concept of function
overloading (since you might want several constructors). This is followed by a
discussion of the process of cleanup, which is not always as simple as it seems.
Normally, you just drop an object when you’re done with it and the garbage
collector eventually comes along and releases the memory. This portion explores the
garbage collector and some of its idiosyncrasies. The chapter concludes with a closer
look at how things are initialized: automatic member initialization, specifying
Introduction 31
member initialization, the order of initialization, static initialization and array
initialization.