isocpp / isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines

C.65 'self move' - clarify for stl members

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Description

Should rule C.65: Make move assignment safe for self-assignment apply if a type has stl members?
Rule C.20: If you can avoid defining default operations, do shows an example using stl types without protecting for self-move:

// From the example in C.20 'If you can avoid defining default operations, do'
struct Named_map {
public:
    // ... no default operations declared ...
    string name;
    map<int, int> rep;
};    

int main()
{
    Named_map nm{"Four", {{4,4}}};
    
    cout << "Pre-move:  " << nm.name << ", " << nm.rep[4] << "\n";
    nm = move(nm); // self-move
    cout << "Post-move: " << nm.name << ", " << nm.rep[4] << "\n";    
}

The above outputs:

Pre-move:  Four, 4
Post-move: , 0

which happens becuse stl types generally only guarantee 'valid but unspecified' for self-move. Which should take precedence C.20 or C.65? To me, C.20 should take precedence because the rule-of-zero makes code simpler, self-moves that would cause a problem are likey bugs anyway, and developers may accidently introduce bugs when implemeting a safe self-move.

I made a previous attempt with #1938 but that was too aggresive. Maybe the PR could be reworded to preserve values for self move with an exception for stl members?

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Research direction

Read the C.20 and C.65 sections in CppCoreGuidelines.md, including the Named_map example and the linked self-move guidance. Review the earlier attempt in issue #1938 to understand the scope that was considered too aggressive. Done means the guidance clearly explains how these rules relate for types containing standard-library members.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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