Question

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Will exit() or an exception prevent an end-of-scope destructor from being called?

In C++, when the application calls exit(3) are the destructors on the stack supposed to be run to unwind the stack?

Answer 1

No, most destructors are not run on exit().

C++98 §18.3/8 discusses this.

Essentially, when exit is called static objects are destroyed, atexit handlers are executed, open C streams are flushed and closed, and files created by tmpfile are removed. Local automatic objects are not destroyed. I.e., no stack unwinding.

Calling abort lets even less happen: no cleanup whatsoever.