clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone-unhandled-self-assignment.rst

.. title:: clang-tidy - bugprone-unhandled-self-assignment

bugprone-unhandled-self-assignment
==================================

`cert-oop54-cpp` redirects here as an alias for this check. For the CERT alias,
the `WarnOnlyIfThisHasSuspiciousField` option is set to `false`.

Finds user-defined copy assignment operators which do not protect the code
against self-assignment either by checking self-assignment explicitly or
using the copy-and-swap or the copy-and-move method.

By default, this check searches only those classes which have any pointer or C array field
to avoid false positives. In case of a pointer or a C array, it's likely that self-copy
assignment breaks the object if the copy assignment operator was not written with care.

See also:
`OOP54-CPP. Gracefully handle self-copy assignment
<https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/display/cplusplus/OOP54-CPP.+Gracefully+handle+self-copy+assignment>`_

A copy assignment operator must prevent that self-copy assignment ruins the
object state. A typical use case is when the class has a pointer field
and the copy assignment operator first releases the pointed object and
then tries to assign it:

.. code-block:: c++

  class T {
  int* p;

  public:
    T(const T &rhs) : p(rhs.p ? new int(*rhs.p) : nullptr) {}
    ~T() { delete p; }

    // ...

    T& operator=(const T &rhs) {
      delete p;
      p = new int(*rhs.p);
      return *this;
    }
  };

There are two common C++ patterns to avoid this problem. The first is
the self-assignment check:

.. code-block:: c++

  class T {
  int* p;

  public:
    T(const T &rhs) : p(rhs.p ? new int(*rhs.p) : nullptr) {}
    ~T() { delete p; }

    // ...

    T& operator=(const T &rhs) {
      if(this == &rhs)
        return *this;

      delete p;
      p = new int(*rhs.p);
      return *this;
    }
  };

The second one is the copy-and-swap method when we create a temporary copy
(using the copy constructor) and then swap this temporary object with ``this``:

.. code-block:: c++

  class T {
  int* p;

  public:
    T(const T &rhs) : p(rhs.p ? new int(*rhs.p) : nullptr) {}
    ~T() { delete p; }

    // ...

    void swap(T &rhs) {
      using std::swap;
      swap(p, rhs.p);
    }

    T& operator=(const T &rhs) {
      T(rhs).swap(*this);
      return *this;
    }
  };

There is a third pattern which is less common. Let's call it the copy-and-move method
when we create a temporary copy (using the copy constructor) and then move this
temporary object into ``this`` (needs a move assignment operator):

.. code-block:: c++

  class T {
  int* p;

  public:
    T(const T &rhs) : p(rhs.p ? new int(*rhs.p) : nullptr) {}
    ~T() { delete p; }

    // ...

    T& operator=(const T &rhs) {
      T t = rhs;
      *this = std::move(t);
      return *this;
    }

    T& operator=(T &&rhs) {
      p = rhs.p;
      rhs.p = nullptr;
      return *this;
    }
  };

.. option:: WarnOnlyIfThisHasSuspiciousField

  When `true`, the check will warn only if the container class of the copy assignment operator
  has any suspicious fields (pointer or C array). This option is set to `true` by default.