Module 02 · Objects and lifecycles in C++

RAII, objects, and lifecycles in C++

C++ binds resource management to object scope. Understand how constructors establish invariants, destructors guarantee cleanup through RAII, copy and move semantics transfer ownership without overhead, and smart pointers manage reference counts.

4 lessons · 4 graded exercises·3 hours·intermediate·Prerequisite: Data structures and binary layouts in C

From C structs to C++ classes and encapsulation

20 min · exercise

Moving from procedural data records to encapsulated classes, class invariants, member initialization, and value semantics.

Resource acquisition is initialization (RAII)

25 min · exercise

Binding resource lifetimes to object scope, deterministic destructors, exception safety, and transactional rollbacks.

Copy semantics, move semantics, and ownership transfer

25 min · exercise

Deep copy vs shallow copy, the rule of three and five, rvalue references, move constructors, and zero-cost ownership transfer.

Smart pointers and reference count management

25 min · exercise

Unique ownership with unique_ptr, shared ownership with shared_ptr and control blocks, weak_ptr, and circular reference leaks.