Dangling pointer
A dangling pointer is a pointer or reference to an object or memory whose lifetime has ended or is otherwise no longer valid to access.
C++ Concurrency in Action, Second Edition
A dangling pointer is a pointer that refers to an object whose lifetime has ended or whose storage is no longer valid.
- How it is used
- Explains a memory-lifetime hazard in concurrent lock-free stack operations.
- How deep it goes
- Traces the pop race and shows delayed deletion and split reference counts as ways to prevent unsafe access.
- Examples
- Demonstrates two pop threads competing over one node and a reference-counted implementation.
- What you can do after
- Understand why a thread must secure a node’s lifetime before dereferencing its pointer.
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API Design Patterns
A dangling pointer is a pointer that refers to a data object or resource that no longer exists.
- How it is used
- Handles deletion decisions when API resources refer to one another.
- How deep it goes
- Defines invalid references, compares four deletion policies, and examines circular references, bulk writes, and deletion avalanches.
- Examples
- Uses book-author resources, the Becoming example, circular author-book references, and association resources.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate deletion policies and recognize when an API should return HTTP 412 or tolerate invalid references.
Related concepts
- Rustaddressed by · Rust is a statically typed systems programming language designed for performance, concurrency, and memory safety without requiring garbage collection.
- association resourceproduced by · An association resource is an API resource that represents a relationship between specific resources and whose associated endpoints are fixed for the resource's lifetime.
- referencekind of · A reference is an indirect value or relationship that identifies or provides access to another value, object, resource, or source.
- undefined behaviorproduces · Undefined behavior is program execution for which the applicable language specification imposes no requirements on the resulting behavior or effects.
- missing valuecontrasts with · A missing value is a representation or condition indicating that an expected data value or object reference is absent, unknown, unavailable, or inapplicable.
- pointerkind of · A pointer is a value that refers to a memory location or another object, enabling indirect access to it.
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